Shinebox
A quiet end

We will never tire of repeating it, the Italian alternative scene no longer has anything to envy from the foreign ones. Most of today’s record releases are noteworthy, the quality has significantly risen, and now even producers and recording studios are keeping up with the times.

Shinebox is not a new name for those who have had the opportunity to engage with this scene in recent years. Several tours around the Peninsula, some abroad tours accompanied by various record releases, the latest being “A Quiet End,” a six-track mini-album that reprises the good work done in “Into The Great Void” dated 2012. An EP that not only marks the growth of the band but also makes them a solid presence in the national hardcore scene, carefully navigating new school scenarios and opting for catchy choruses that especially shine in live settings. The tracks convey a strong sense of retaliation/anger towards today's society, with a vocal timbre closely reminiscent of Tim McIlrath of Rise Against, somewhere between melodic and screamed, something that in the hardcore realm always has its significance indeed. The most striking track in the collection is “Seasons,” a very American song in its interpretation where the choruses dominate and a certain melancholy takes over.

Musically, “A Quiet End” works splendidly, designed to give its best live and well-developed through constant rhythmic upheavals. The production, entrusted to the Roman Hell Smell Studio (a studio that has brought to light many excellent works by Hopes Die Last, To Kill, Chasing Planets…), is spot on and well executed. The sounds have been properly boosted while trying to focus on the vocals, which is not easy given the low tones used.

A great return indeed; while waiting to see what the new album will bring, one cannot help but be fully satisfied with what has been heard so far.