ALBUM REVIEW: One Step Closer – ‘All You Embrace’

Maybe it’s just the nominative determinism of a band with that name slipping ever nearer to hardcore’s inner circles, but One Step Closer have kind of been killing it lately. This mélange of ‘90s post-hardcore, emo, youth crew and alternative absolutism has been looking for a leader for some time, and it wouldn’t be far-fetched to throw One Step Closer’s name in the hat. At least, that’s the overall impression that can be gleaned in the wild. It seems to be primarily centred around this new album, the supposed game-changer ready to convert cranked-up hype into a noteworthy return. Don’t forget that, up to now, One Step Closer have never really had that killer release; it’s all been fine without the noteworthy shove to get them over the edge.

All You Embrace, then, couldn’t have come through a more perfect confluence of factors. As excitement for this band begins to boil and the need for a killer statement is put out further than ever, it’s the closest to something great that they’ve ever put out. Apparently all that was needed was a near-complete redirect in focus, albeit one that can be accomplished with the same tools. The pipeline from competent Touché Amoré apers to much-better melodic punks isn’t unheard of, after all, and One Step Closer can certainly wring a lot from it. In essence, although the coterie of diehards might be a little taken aback at first, it’s hard to imagine them being disappointed.

The fundamentals of all past One Step Closer efforts haven’t changed—there’s a somewhat gauzy feel overlaid on burly emo guitars, very reminiscent of how the geneses of what we know these genres as today would play out. If anything, dialling up the punk and even—don’t panic!—pop-punk sides of The Gate or Your Hazel Tree aid a lot more in capturing a brand of melody that’s equally anachronistic as it is timeless. Now that Ryan Savitski is singing more often than screaming, the outcome is definitely more palatable. Yes, you can make the argument that One Step Closer are simply a different flavour of indistinct, but there’s a marked difference when they’re not locked in place in the shadow of a small handful of bands. All You Embrace flows through its influences naturally, and thus, avoids most prior rigidity.

It also helps that this is just an exceptional sounding album, as One Step Closer’s best features and instincts come flooding forth. If hooks aren’t quite as filtered and fine-tuned just yet, that’s more than made up for elsewhere, in the glances back at hardcore pacing against an expansive guitar tone on Leap Years and Blur My Memory, or superpowered alt-rock in Topanga. It’s not just the glamour muscles being worked here; All You Embrace is fully toned from every angle. And when every thread and sinew is woven together surpremely tightly—and topped off by its production’s lacquer coating for some proper ear-candy results—One Step Closer frequently sound incredible on here. The vision and purpose is still unmistakably grassroots, now with every piece in place to hold it high and proud.

As basic and straightforward as it all may sound, it doesn’t have to be much more. There’s a reason that hardcore of all shapes has been allowed to pride itself on simplicity since time immemorial—it just works. One Step Closer have discovered that outcome in their own little corner now, and they’re all the better for it. There’s an inroad to All You Embrace that’s more carefully maintained, and optimised in such a keen way. Exactly what you want from a band in this specific sector of the genre, then, as the gears finally seem to have shifted in a pretty major way. Apparently there’s some form other method to the madness of sharing a name with a Linkin Park song whose key sentiment is “I’m about to break”—when it hits, boy, do you feel it.

For fans of: Drug Church, Fiddlehead, Koyo

‘All You Embrace’ by One Step Closer is released on 17th May on Run For Cover Records.

Words by Luke Nuttall