If you’re looking for a little musical diversity then French rockers Earthstate will be just the ticket with their fusion of pop-punk, rock and metalcore – and a bit of hip-hop thrown in for good measure.
The quartet of Stane Jackson (vocals), Maxime Divetain (guitars), Dewi Mrl (bass) and Thib GL (drums) grew up in the golden age of pop-punk, influenced by the likes of Blink-182 and Sum 41. They had all been in various bands until a few years ago, with whom they toured France and Europe and some even played alongside major bands like New Found Glory.
As they explain: “At the time we didn’t know each other, because we come from different places in France. After these experiences, we all wanted to build a stronger project, with people as passionate and involved as we were. We first met on the Internet, then we met all together in Lyon. After long talks and a first rehearsal, Earthstate was born!”
The first taste of Earthstate’s sound is their eponymous debut album, which was released in March and has a common theme throughout. As they explain: “It talks about a fictional character who decides to leave everything to build a better life in a better place, ‘Earthstate.’ Each track talks about a step of his journey or some emotions he is going through like euphoria, doubts etc…
“The listener can compare with his own project, difficulties and life’s challenges, the main message is that you can overcome everything, no matter what you are going through and what are your objectives. We were simply influenced by our young adult lives and what we are seeing around us.”
The band’s diversity is summed up by opening track The Decision, which begins with screamed vocals over diving guitars, a synthy background then laid-back vocals burst into more intense screams over palm-muted guitars. A singalong punky chorus follows with more synths underneath, which gives way to a really cool blitz of staccato guitars.
The punk-fused heaviness keeps on coming, including the engaging No Turning Back. It opens up feeling very pop-punky, then a screamed pre-chorus gives way to a catchy, singalong chorus. Big screamed vocals are supported by booming chords and a twinkling repeating high-pitched guitar before diving into almost spoken vocals over piano support, then building up to more singalong vocals. Check it below:
While Fallen Peace is a personal favourite, opening up with synthy sounds that drop into a big smash of cool guitars. Big screamed vocals take over with driving guitars in support, feeding into a chorus of “What’s your goal? Why can’t you just let me go, Who are you? Ally or rival, Don’t you know? Peace will fall down.” A cool riff takes over after the second chorus with big smashes of heavy chords cutting in over the top then continuing under screamed vocals, then diving into a final chorus.
Further expanding on the album, the band tell us: “This album is the consecration of two years of hard work from 4 friends from the French alternative scene who reunited their experiences and influences to build a very personal sound: heavy, melodic and with positive vibes! The album dropped a few days ago, and the firsts feedback are pretty good. We couldn’t have asked for a better reception.”
The band have been heavily influenced by bands that fuse pop-pnk with heavier influences like A Day To Remember and Four Year Strong, along with the likes of Bring Me The Horizon, Issues and Angels And Airwaves for “their ability to get off the beaten track and their special atmospheres.”
We’ve met a few French bands now and it seems like the country has a great mix of new rock, punk and metal bands, so we asked the guys for their thoughts. They told us: “The French scene is very special. People are very passionate, but very demanding too. Some people say if a band works in France, it will work everywhere else. That’s why the French scene is very limited, and it’s pretty sad. But there are some very talented bands that deserve to become huge or already are, like Landmvrks or Chunk! No, Captain Chunk. It’s pretty encouraging, and we hope we will follow the same path.”
You can follow Earthstate on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and check out their debut album on Spotify, Bandcamp and YouTube.
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