Pennsylvania hardcore band One Step Closer’s ‘All You Embrace’ is a solemn, yet aggressive meditation on growing up and coming of age.
Stream: ‘All You Embrace’ – One Step Closer
We all become legal adults at 18, but more often than not, we don’t learn who we really are until well into our 20s.
Even later, we probably realize that we’re consistently in a period of becoming who we are as we age and change. For as long as young adults have been coming to terms with those points, punk rock has given them a voice to find where that is. Wilkes-Barre hardcore band One Step Closer offer an excellent take on growing up and setting their own values on their excellent sophomore record All You Embrace (May 17, 2024 via Run for Cover Records).
Throughout the record’s 11 songs, vocalist Ryan Savitski finds himself diving deep as he re-examines relationships, seeks out individuality, and comes to terms with the ever-changing nature of his interpersonal relationships. Throughout the record, he easily fluctuates between a melodic singing style akin to aughts hard rock, along with gruffer shouts and a few higher pitched yelled vocals.
As more and more hardcore bands incorporate alt-rock elements into their music, One Step Closer don’t sacrifice any intensity when leaning into more melodic songs. Even on single “Giant’s Despair,” which is the closest thing the record has to a ballad, the band swells with ease into the chorus. Throughout the record, the band incorporates twinkling pre-choruses and bridges that give the record more dynamics than your typical beatdown band would.
Along with the soaring instrumentals, Savitski’s lyrics often face isolation and a struggle to fit in head on. In songs like “Esruc” and “Slow to Let Go,” he finds himself navigating the feelings of isolation and working through why he feels that way even about those he was once close to.
I fear I lost the hope for all
And face myself when I’m alone
You’ve been stuck in the wrong direction for years
On top of that, individuality plays a major focus on the record.
“I felt really disconnected from a lot of the kids I knew growing up. I felt like an outcast. I felt like I couldn’t really express myself to my peers and to the people around me,” Savitski said in a recent interview with the Anti-Matter newsletter. Throughout the record, he comes to terms with both his own sense of loneliness and mending relationships that the type of isolation that a life on the road can make.
There’s as much about owning up to your own shortcomings as there is about carving out a niche for yourself. “Blur Your Memory” is a catchy hard rock number about the difficulties of keeping up with everything that you’d like to in life. Even the chorus to lead single “Leap Years” talks about taking solace in the people who keep it real with you.
But I hope
That you’ll bring some clarity
When I take myself too seriously
I’m left wide open
With the current crop of hardcore bands that toe the line with alt-rock, it wouldn’t seem far-fetched for some bands that would be One Step Closer contemporaries to make the jump into more straightforward indie rock. They feel like they’re looking more and more over the genre lines into the indie rock realm, but even as the Wilkes-Barre hardcore outfit extends into more melodic and experimental territory, it’s hard to see them sacrificing any of the aggression while maintaining the elements that make their songs catchy. All the better for it.
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:: stream/purchase All You Embrace here ::
Stream: “Leap Years” – One Step Closer
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📸 © Spencer Chamberlain
