Broken Past releases powerful Single/Video

Although the strings initially climb out of the darkness with a spindly, dexterous arrangement of notes, it doesn’t take them very long to find their distorted center in Broken Past’s “Some Gave All,” a rousing single that honors American service members in its incredible music video. The riffage here is crushing and reminiscent of the clatter of war, bringing to mind images of the battlefield and those who weren’t lucky enough to walk away from it. The lyrics support this theme with moderate poeticisms, and as fetching as they might be in other genres of music, the mundane metaphors about warfare are left out of the equation entirely in both the song and the video. Broken Past have one mission in this release, and it’s to give our soldiers the respect they are too often denied at home.

MORE ON BROKEN PAST: https://www.brokenpastnj.com/

Beyond the guitars here, the drums in “Some Gave All” are utterly jarring and provide a multidimensional edge to the composition overall. I particularly appreciate how much depth they provide the bassline and main vocal melody as we get deeper into the track, and while there’s an argument to be made that they didn’t need to be quite as loud to accomplish this effect, I prefer them on the heavier side. There aren’t enough bands putting the kind of stock in sheer weighty sonic faceting that Broken Past are in this latest release, and with any luck, the momentum that they pick up because of this will have an impact on some of their less than impressive contemporaries.

The video for “Some Gave All” feels like a traditional metal video, with the band serving as the main stars in about half of the time its visuals fill our screen, but on the other hand, the band doesn’t resist the temptation to indulge in the lyrical themes with appropriate imagery matching the sentiments of the song. From where I sit, it’s a good mix of substance-based subject matter and old school heavy metal muscle flexing, which isn’t the easiest balance for anyone to strike anymore (regardless of exposure or even the act’s level of talent). In this way, Broken Past are looking a lot more mature and put-together than their mainstream counterparts, some of whom have been delivering quite the lackluster output in recent years.

If you’re in the mood for some thunderous metal with a bold message about America and its most valuable assets, you’re going to need to consider Broken Past’s “Some Gave All” a must-listen this July. There have been numerous studs and duds coming out of the American underground in the last few months, but when it comes to heavy metal harmonies, these are by far some of the most well-rounded that have come across my desk from any source – big name and indie alike. I’ve been keeping up with this genre for the better part of my life, and while some will tell you its greatest treasures died off years ago, bands like this one are proving otherwise on a regular basis.

Nicole Killian