Everlit: “Renovate”- grooving, thick driving rock tunes!

I’ve absolutely dug this debut EP by Philadelphia alternative hard rock band Everlit. The EP, “Renovate”, stings and crushes both with its heaviness and its melody infused with metal groove. The band has come a long way since the days three of its members, including the Panfil brothers, vocalist Ryan and guitarist Jordan formed part of Willpowerless. The current line-up of Everlit, which includes Fidelity (Drums), Anthony Michael (Guitar) and Kyle Wegman (Bass), balance heavy and dense sounds with locatable, ear-catching, and repeating melodies that work tremendously well.

Perfect drums and a low banging bass lines support some excellent, heavy but melodic guitars, in a songs that whips you around constantly. Ryan’s singing is angry and brusque at times, and all about the emotion and the pacing of the songs, which will keep you tuned in continuously.

The songs are often open to interpretation but much penetrative intent is brought in with the aggressive emotional expressions and tones that these guys are interested in. If this is starting to sound like the type of music that does it for you then you’re going to love “Renovate”. I loved every song and have had this EP on repeat for the last week. It’s interfered with my listening to other new music and I’ve been totally okay with that.

Favorite tracks: the rush of the EP’s opening track and newly released single, “R.E.D.”, a great song that charges all over the place with rhythmic and tonal changes darting back and forth in an vigorous rollercoaster ride; the head-bobbing riff assault and choral chanting on “Break Away”; the scary growling and heavy power chord rise and falls of “A Phoenix Will Rise”; and honorable mention for the radio relevant and Top40 reality of “Square One”.

Everlit ends the album on a soaring melodic note with the effective and expansive sound of “Fake” but they also throw in a bone-crushing rhythmic track, in the form of “Black Out”, before that. All throughout however, the band never loses its strong melodic streak, whether they’re banging the walls down with gut-wrenching guitar riffs or simply coloring the soundscapes with clean and jangly strumming.

The flow of the sonic assault on this EP is top notch, while the production by Taylor Larson allows Everlit to live inside the sound. The mastering sounds just right too. “Renovate” is stylistically very consistent, with that heavy-soft-heavy contrasting dynamic so necessary in this genre, played to perfection.

The 6 tracks of Everlit’s debut EP pours out more hard rock passion in less than 30 minutes, than most people will experience in an entire year of music.

Considering Everlit has an uncanny ability to please both alternative rock and metal fans with grooving, thick driving rock tunes that practically leave you holding your breath for more, very few mainstream people even know this EP exists, which means this band is not getting the kind of mass recognition they deserve!