Instant Impressions: 'Reaching Hypercritical' by Palisades

The last few years have been very interesting for New Jersey-based alternative metal band Palisades – after the release of their fifth album Erase the Pain, their subsequent touring in support of it in the fall of 2019 saw bassist Brandon Elgar take the lead vocalist role after frontman Lou Micheli had to withdraw from a tour supporting the band Starset due to medical concerns. When the coronavirus pandemic shut everything down in 2020, the band stayed relatively quiet on their social media platforms for a fairly long time, with no sign of new music or tour dates when live music was starting to open back up. It wasn’t until December 2021 that the band released a statement that Miceli had permanently left the band and Elgar had stepped up as the full-time lead vocalist – this announcement was followed with the release of the new incarnation’s first single, ‘My Consequences,’ the first track of their newly-released full-length album Reaching Hypercritical.

Palisades are no strangers to lineup changes, having gone through several musicians over the course of their fourteen-year career. What’s also noteworthy is the band has also had a number of stylistic shifts with their music, having started out as an experimental electronic metal band and currently fitting closer with the alternative metal subgenre. No two Palisades albums sound the same, leaving little room for expectations. Thankfully enough, the band has released a decent amount of singles ahead of the release of their new album Reaching Hypercritical that have helped give listeners an idea of what the album entails, but singles never tell the whole story and now it’s time to hear the real deal. Feel free to listen along and follow my real-time reactions here:

1.     My Consequences (2:59)

• I remember when this dropped last December, and it’s still a mainstay in my playlist
• The chorus is my favorite out of all the singles that were released before the album
• Love the lyrics in the second verse
• I remember hearing Brandon Elgar sing on previous albums, but I think this bridge is the first time I’ve heard him scream
• This single made me happy that Elgar stepped up as the lead singer now instead of having a new member come into the band – Palisades is in good hands with Elgar as the frontman

2.     Reaching Hypercritical (3:22)

• I know I’ve heard a song that has a similar intro from 0:09-0:19, but for the life of me I can’t remember what it is right now – regardless, I dig what I’m hearing right now
• The first pre-chorus has my favorite lyrics of the song
• As a horror and werewolf movie fan, I really like the animalistic metaphors and how it relates to one’s headspace – the alternating singing and screaming in the second half of the chorus was cool to hear too

3.     Invincible (Die Down) (3:59)

• I like how it starts out soft and quiet, but then immediately picks up once the chorus hits – almost reminds me of ‘Another Life’ by Motionless in White
• Speaking of the chorus, that falsetto was gorgeous
• One of my favorite things in songs like this is when the second chorus feels like it has more momentum and energy than the first because of the presence of the drums *chef’s kiss*

4.     Your Misery (3:53)

• Lyrically, I’m already hooked because I love spiteful songs that call people out like this
• I feel like this would be sung to someone drowning in quicksand or something – don’t ask me why because I have no answers
• Musically, my favorite part is in the intro and after the first chorus

5.     Without You (3:16)

• I won’t lie, it’s a little hard to pick out favorite lyrics for this one
• Musically, this is something I really vibe with – I love those types of middle-ground songs that aren’t super fast or heavy, but also not really slow and sappy. While I enjoy both extremes, there’s something about the middle ground that just sticks out to me
• Love those backing vocals in the outro

6.     Better (3:19)

• If I remember correctly, the album was announced when this song dropped as a single back in March – while it’s not my favorite, I think this is the single that’s been stuck in my head the most
• Both musically and lyrically, I love the pre-chorus the most because of how the pre-chorus builds up to the chorus

7.     Fray (4:10)

• The drums sound amazing on this track, good lord
• The chorus and verses sound like polar opposites – we love variety
• As lyrically repetitive as the outro is, it manages to not sound musically monotonous because it keeps building up and there’s something else being added with each repetition

8.     Sick of the Attitude (3:30)

• This is so in-your-face, and I love every second of it
• As much as I like when bands go completely crazy and turn everything to the extreme, there’s something effective about when they’re able to control themselves too – you know they could’ve gone ballistic during the bridge and done a super intense breakdown, but I like that they decided not to here
• I already know this song would go so hard live, it’ll be a big mistake if it isn’t on their setlist at some point

9.     Fade Away (3:15)

• The verse reminds me of ‘Pushing Me Away’ by Linkin Park,
• The pre-chorus picks things up musically right off the bat – I wasn’t ready for that, but I’m here for it
• I love the way Elgar sings those lines in the pre-chorus and chorus
• There are two songs left, but I’m pretty sure this is my favorite non-single track on the album

10.  Sober (3:05)

• This was the last single the band released ahead of the album, and I can see it being a fan favorite amongst the other singles
• Musically, the song’s pretty straightforward – not a huge difference from verse to chorus (the bridge gets heavier for a little bit, so that’s an exception), but I like that because I think songs like this make you focus on the lyrics more

11.  Closure (3:39)

• Compared to the other songs on the album, this feels much more atmospheric, which is largely due to the instrumentation at the first half of the song
• The way it switches up and brings the rock instrumentals into the second verse is really nice – love the presence of the bass here too
• As big as the second chorus and bridge sound, I like how the song was able to close with just the vocals and drums – something about it makes it feel like a decisive ending to both the song and the album

If I could describe Reaching Hypercritical in two words it would be “heavy” and “intense,” from both a musical and lyrical perspective. Is it heavy in the sense of constantly banging your head and feeling like running through walls? No, but it doesn’t have to be either – it’s the perfect balance of melody and intensity, and that’s what makes Palisades Palisades. While they’ve switched their musical styles with each release, they’ve also shown exponential improvement as recording artists every time they release something new – with that being said, I believe Reaching Hypercritical is the band’s most focused collective body of songs they’ve ever released. As much as I love their 2017 self-titled album and 2018’s Erase the Pain, those two albums don’t have the same cohesive feeling of this latest effort. The album is also perfectly sequenced, seamlessly transitioning from one song to the next and feeling like one singular unit instead of eleven individual tracks.

Also, I can’t help but mention how awesome it is to hear Brandon Elgar as the frontman now – as I said earlier, he’s sung backing vocals on previous albums, but he’s really able to showcase his range now and it’s great to hear.

Lyrically, the album explores introspective themes regarding mental health and one’s own sanity, along with navigating one’s relationships with the people around them in the midst of their internal battles. I’m not sure how much of the album, if any, was at least written out before the pandemic since we’re still in the era of bands releasing albums that were mostly completed beforehand, as well as “lockdown albums” that were solely composed and released while everything was locked down, but these lyrics can resonate with people who have experienced with mental health struggles of their own, whether it was as a result of the pandemic or something that’s always been a part of their life. With mental health being openly discussed now more than ever, there are a lot of people that will be able to find some sort of commiserating comfort while listening to this album.

Later this summer, Palisades will be on tour as direct support for the metalcore band Alesana during the first part of their Trilogy tour, alongside gothic industrial metalcore band Vampires Everywhere, from August 18 to October 30 – and after listening to this new album, I’m even more excited to be seeing them on August 19.

It’s always hard to narrow things down, but my top 3 standout tracks after this first listen are:

-       My Consequences (I try not to choose singles for this section, but this one’s just too good)

-       Without You

-       Fade Away

If you listened along and also enjoyed the album, you can buy/stream Reaching Hypercritical here.

To keep up with the band’s tour dates and buy their merch, click here.

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