ROGUE HALF
THEY ARE soon to be the champions of Australia’s ever-burgeoning melodicore scene – we’re calling it now. Staples of Adelaide’s underground, the foursome deal in powerful, polychromatic soundscapes that grab the listener by the ears and bodyslams them through a table lined thick with tenacious riffs.
THEY SOUND LIKE what would happen if you plugged a pair of headphones into a bucket full of fireworks.
YOU’LL DIG THEM IF YOU LIKE Polaris, Underoath and The Beautiful Monument. They swerve like F1 drivers between mammoth singalong melodies and cataclysmic breakdowns, their tracks suited equally for the mosh pit and the car stereo. With metalcore progressively edging its way back into the spotlight, we can easily see Rogue Half dropping a major bombshell on the mainstream with their next record.
YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT their latest single “Bite My Tongue”, the chorus of which will undoubtedly find itself stuck in your head for weeks after your first dozen listens (which will definitely happen in quick succession, as it’s a dangerously moreish track). The band are hard at work on the follow-up to their 2018 Refraction album, and though that release is well worth a spin, their more recent material is leagues ahead.