ENDSCAPE’s debut album “Not Worth Saving” is an eight track exploration of the anxieties that arise as the result of the societal pressures to succeed and the struggles that surround social media, public perception, and mental health.
ENDSCAPE describes the opening track “Rain” as an exploration of the love/hate relationship with the pressure to succeed. It opens with the metal interpretation of the nursery rhyme “rain rain go away,” before powerful vocals paired with heavy guitar carries the song forward. The lyrics, “the pressure burns my throat, and in the dark I fall, my soul is screaming” convey the idea of struggling with the pressures to succeed.
Keeping with the overarching theme, the band describes the next track, “Bloodlines,” as an attack on the media's hateful deception and division. The song asks the question: “Why do we let you control all of our minds?” Powerful drums paired with strong vocals answer: “it’s in our bloodlines”
The next track, “Never Fade” is a response to those who claim to live life morally and virtuously, when in reality they do the opposite. “Don’t point blame at me when all that you do is hide away. And down in your hole I hope you can see your lies will fade away.” The song seems to say that the lies will fade and fall away while the truth will never fade.
The title track, “Not Worth Saving” is a vulnerable track that dives into mental health, and the value of one's self worth, “I am a prisoner of my own making, the ship is sailing, and I’m stuck waiting” These lyrics reflect feeling stuck and out of control, feeling not worth saving.
“Suffocate” is ENDSCAPE’S debut single, it is a bit more of a vulnerable track that deals with the theme of anxiety and its physical manifestations. The song explains the feeling of suffocating within one's own thoughts, with lyrics such as “hands gripped tight around my throat” and “my heart is racing, my throat is closing, I can’t breathe.” The powerful imagery paired with strong vocals blended with heavy drums and guitar make for both a powerful representation of the feelings of anxiety as well as a strong representation of ENDSCAPE’s music as a whole.
The band's second single, “Validate Me” is an exploration of the effects of social media on mental health. The song explores how social media may create a need for constant validation, and may even lead to the collapse of real life connections in favor of online validation, and an artificial online persona; “you’re in love with fake reality. Please come back, please come back to me.”
The album concludes with a cover of Pendulum’s “Propane Nightmares” and an acoustic recording of “Suffocate.” ENDSCAPE puts a heavier-rock spin on Pendulum’s “Propane Nightmares” The acoustic take of “Suffocate” still features powerful vocals but instead of heavy guitar and drums, the vocals are paired with gentle acoustic guitars; this allows the lyricism to speak for itself.
Each song on the album ties into the overarching theme of the album and features strong vocals, powerful vocals, and an upbeat hard-rock sound.
I really enjoyed this album! 🖤