Dive

Description

Over its decade-and-a-half existence, Brooklyn band I Am The Avalanche has routinely faced and overcome personal, professional and existential challenges. Enter DIVE, their first since 2014s Wolverines. DIVE confronts a crushing year for independent musicians and comes out guns blazing, wall-to-wall with anthemic post-hardcore fight songs. Reality came to us all this year, says frontperson Vinnie Caruana. Youve lived this long. If youre not enjoying life if you cant find light somewhere I think its time to go and find it.

Recording sessions for DIVE wrapped March 15, 2020, the weekend much of America first came to terms with the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic. After some last-call lyrical additions (notably the title tracks resounding salvo, We suffer together / no ones alone) Caruana fled the studios to quarantine with wife Laura in Brooklyn. Nevertheless, they were quickly hit with awful news. We both got sick with coronavirus and quarantined together, Caruana says. Having her with me was a huge part of why this year wasnt as dark as it could have been. Caruana acknowledges the good fortune of their eventual recoveries after a couple bedridden weeks, along with the fact most of DIVEs most dire lyrics were penned prior to the lockdown. This has been coming, he insists. Pre-pandemic, things were still shitty. Our country has been turned upside-down by the current administration. So the songs that sound like they were written yesterday I dont think thats going to change.

Across DIVE, Caruana and guitarist/songwriting partner Mike Ireland, bassist Kellen Robson and guitarist Brandon Swanson plow through emotional maelstroms with cutting wit and hard-earned wisdom. Drummer Brett The Ratt Romnes is a powerhouse behind the kit and the bands producer. The bands mission statement is clear from the opening jolt of Better Days through the first line of The Morning, DIVEs mountainous closer: If Im still alive come the morning, if I somehow make it through / youll be the reason I still breathe; yes, Ill owe it all to you. Plenty of I Am The Avalanche fans have been shouting along to Caruanas lyrics since The Movielife formed in the late 90s; with DIVE, that connection may be less tactile, but its every bit as vital.