The haunting start, the sand flowing downwards in the video, and the almost-clockwork sounds of doom. This grabs your attention, and all leads to a ferociously powerful entry into the minds of a trapped soul. This is a song about getting out of that dark place within your deep soul, and you find yourself stuck like standing in a puddle of glue. South African Alt-Rock act Far From Who We Are, lift themselves to new heights that will need a working parachute on, ‘Rise‘-their new stomping track that dropped on the 20th November 2020 from HopePunk Records.
“Rise” is a dark yet uplifting song with a positive message – it’s about escaping a dark place or difficult situation and finding the strength to get back up and rise above it.
His vocals are laced with emotion but keeps the tone so tremendously stable, the electric guitar is bursting with energy, and the drums break down the glass of the next door neighbours window. They manage to magnify the sound to encompass Hard Rock and Metal melodies, without getting too hectic, and over the top. The temperature is just right from the sunshine emanating from the Benoni boys, who are ravaging with energy here.
The message of keeping hope in dark times is so relevant, especially now in this much-changed world. Its almost like a bad movie, and keeping mentally sane is proving rather difficult for millions of humans out there. This powerfully portrayed song is a beacon of light in the depths of the sewers of 2020, and finding the light of 2021 is so important to stay sane. Music like this really helps as the band are in scintillating form.
Far From Who We Are climb out of the depths of darkness, and bring us an inspirational track, that is full of uplifting Hard Rock passion on ‘Rise‘.
Fuel that passion by seeing the music video on YouTube and find out more about the South African band on Facebook.
Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen