When a blossoming artist starts to garner media attention from the big leagues, a certain wary skepticism can follow. Can their musicianship justify the hype? The hype, which in Kent metallers Cove’s case, includes a support slot on tour with Feed The Rhino and a Kerrang! premiere? Luckily, the answer in this case is a resounding yes. A Conscious Motion, the hardcore quintet’s newest EP, is abound with both scathing aggression and mathy, Code Orange-esque vehemence that proves their worth among a sea of bands trying to climb the same ladder. Opener ‘Coincidence:Collide’ starts with clean vocals before tearing off the plaster, introducing the listener to the power of vocalist Ben Shorten’s screams. ‘Solis’ builds into a cry for help – a definite highlight of the EP, it’s as desperate as it is brilliant, reading like the heaviest soliloquy Shakespeare ever did write. While closing track ‘Reflect:Resolve’ could run the risk of being forgettable if not for its intelligent riff-work, its predecessor ‘Host’ is an almost-haunting minute and a half instrumental that more than makes up for it. The addition of such a track shows Cove aren’t just some all-bite-no-bark one trick pony, but a band willing to play with the dynamics of their sound, and push themselves beyond the restraints of genre to dig deeper in their work. A Conscious Motion is a thick cocktail of anguish, violence and misery, snarling like a hostile dog whilst also managing to be poignant and vulnerable. For their second ever extended play, it’s solid gold. Only time itself will tell if Cove can climb the rungs and make a real name for themselves in the scene, but if A Conscious Motion’s depth and potency is anything to go by, they shouldn’t worry – this EP will do the talking for them. Score: 8 /10
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