All You Embrace

One Step Closer has been an interesting band to follow. Their first EP, From Me To You, had a strong Have Heart vibe, but with each release the band has moved more and more into a more melodic direction. When they released their three song EP, Songs For The Willow, last year, I was feeling that I was probably done with the band. I really liked those songs, but I felt like they had pushed their sound as far as I was willing go with it.

I recently discovered Title Fight and have been listening to them a bunch this year, and they can lean into that melodic style that I never thought that I'd appreciate... but I've had a number of musical perspective changes in the past year, and that is one of them. So when I heard that One Step Closer had a new album on the way, I thought that if they went in the direction of their Wilkes-Barre home town heroes, Title Fight, then there was a chance that I might really enjoy it. I took the chance and ordered the record.

The thing is, I do kind of like this album. I wish that they had more of a harder edge, and didn't get poppy enough to remind me of Sum 41 at times, but I don't hate it. I don't expect it will be a favorite of the year, unless the new hardcore field continues to remain thin, but I do like to give this a spin every once in a while.

The packaging for All You Embrace, on the other hand is fantastic. The nice lyric booklet is nice and thick with some big photos and comments from the band about touring and recording. It is a nice touch. 500 pressed on blue, white and black swirl colored vinyl.

Songs For The Willow

One Step Closer released their second record, This Place You Know, a couple of years ago. I expected big things from that record, but it didn't hit like I'd expected it to, and with all the other cool shit released that year, I kind of forgot about it. Of course that didn't stop me from jumping in to preorder the latest EP from the band.

The latest 12 inch, Songs For The Willow, arrived at my house months ago, but I just haven't been in the mood to check it out. One Step Closer covered Turning Point's Broken a couple of years ago, so I always think of them trying to take that same trajectory of going from a hardcore band and progressively getting more and more melodic. OSC aren't Turning Point though, so with this latest EP, I was worried that they may have tried too hard and completely diluted their sound. Despite my hesitance, these three songs are a great blend of hardcore and melody. I'm kind of impressed... and at around 10 minutes, I can see myself revisiting these songs often.

"Sunset orange" colored vinyl is limited to 500.

This Place You Know

One Step Closer were one of the bands that really re-ignited my interest in newer hardcore bands a couple years ago. I never really lost my passion for hardcore, but about five years ago it seemed to take a back seat as I was focused more on metal records. Watching One Step Closer play the Have Heart reunion in 2019 kind of woke me up to the fact that there were a bunch of newer hardcore bands that I'd been sleeping on. For this, I'm thankful because without witnessing the fire that OSC brought to the stage at that show, I may never have been pushed to check out some of the newer bands that have quickly become my favorites from the past couple years.

I was really looking forward to the new One Step Closer record, This Place You Know. Their 2020 promo with Lead To Gray and the cover of Broken by Turning Point had me excited to see what the band would deliver next. With this record, OSC expand a bit on their hardcore sound, but a lot of their original foundation is still intact.

This is a good hardcore record, but some of these songs don't have an immediate impact, and it feels like I will appreciate this one more and more with each listen.

The purple and pink swirl colored vinyl that was exclusive to Run For Cover Records sounded interesting when I ordered it, but the reality is a bit dull. It's less of a "swirl" and more of a "blend". At least it matches the front cover artwork nicely.

Paint By Numbers

Triple B must know my weakness for alternate covers. I try to avoid buying multiple copies of records, but reissues with artwork variations are sometimes too tempting to resist.

I really liked the One Step Closer 12 inch from last year. I've seen them play live a few times, and each time, they left me feeling excited about hardcore. Now that I think about it, One Step Closer is probably the band that I've seen live more than any other over the past few years... it wasn't planned, but they just happened to be on the bill for the few hardcore shows I made it out to.

For the fourth pressing, Triple B changed the cover to a paint-by-numbers variation. I think it is a cool and different...although since I've seen this One Step Closer cover, I guess that Chubby and the Gang did the same kind of thing with their recent reissue. Not sure who had the idea first.

I love the colorway for this pressing. 200 pressed for this tri-stripe color.

I already had the original blue cover, and the tan variant, so I obviously needed this latest cover as well. Looking forward to the new album later this year!

One Pressing Closer

Triple B recently did the third pressing of the One Step Closer record. I picked up a copy of this record last summer after catching the band live at the Have Heart reunion, and was quite content with that one pressing. This is a great record, but I didn't feel compelled to purchase multiple copies...until I saw that Triple B changed the color combo for the cover.

I'm a sucker for cover variations, and when Triple B changed the original colorway from the blue/purple over to this green/brown for the third pressing, I couldn't resist grabbing a copy.

I've seen One Step Closer play live three times over the past year...which is basically every hardcore show that I've seen during that time...and they have been a blast to watch each time. Really looking forward to seeing what this band does next.

Here is a quick shot to show the two covers side by side.

One Step Closer

No lie. For most of this year, I haven't cared one bit about hardcore. I've mostly been focused on early 80's metal, and have had zero interest in spinning old hardcore records or even checking out new bands. I don't want to say that it has all seemed stale, but it has failed to move me for the most part. My moods fluctuate though, and after months of ignoring anything related to hardcore. suddenly my interest was sparked...and most of the credit goes to that Have Heart reunion show this summer.

When I bought my ticket for the Have Heart show, it was mostly just an excuse for a quick road trip with my brother...we had both gone to the "final" Have Heart show back in 2009, so I thought it would be cool to make that 10 year anniversary trip to see them again. Still, hardcore did not excite me, and I wished that I was going to see Krokus on their final tour instead. As we got closer to the Have Heart show, I figured that I'd better pay attention to what other bands were going to be playing that day, and proactively check them out so I wouldn't look like such an amateur in front of my brother the day of the show.

I saw that One Step Closer were on the bill with Have Heart, so I decided that I'd check to see what they were about. This record is great, and really caught my attention...especially with that opening riff from The Reach that really pulls me back to the first Have Heart album...then when the band opened and closed their live set with Inside Out covers, I was sold.

While I ordered the first press black vinyl for this 12 inch EP, Triple B must have been sold out because I received the second press on purple colored vinyl. Limited to 350 and looking good.

Much to my surprise, this took me down a hardcore rabbit hole, and I've been on a steady diet of hardcore since then. There are some great new bands kicking around, and suddenly I can't get enough. Strap yourself in, because I'm about to post a string of hardcore records.