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Champion has come up with a faultless formula for creating melodic, youth crew hardcore. Promises Kept is the band's first proper full-length, but the band has already built a widespread audience with their two previous EPs. It's not much of a surprise, either, as Champion hits a respectable middle ground between modern, melody-driven hardcore and the straightforward sounds of yore.
Champion doesn't go off the deep end with chunky breakdowns, metallic riffing or clean melodies. But their sound is modern and tastefully uses the dual guitar approach to construct melodic layering and chord progressions. While their music is comparable to Comeback Kid in that sense, Champion's songs are especially direct and focused in comparison to their peers. The rhythm section and guitar riffs are consistently fast, and when they slow down, it's for a good reason -- sing-alongs with loads of finger-pointing and pile-on opportunities.
Champion, in purely musical terms, reminds me most of the late Count Me Out. The music is driving, enthusiastic and has a lot of heart.
While one shouldn't expect heaps of innovation on Promises Kept, the amount of energy and sincerity poured into the album is just as, if not more, gratifying as jaw-dropping instrumental feats. There's an element of heart packaged with Champion's music and it can be felt in Jim Hesketh's emphatic, mid-ranged yells, the gang vocals and even the liner notes, which feature a variety of intense live photographs. This music isn't particularly hard to play, but bands like Champion transcend such limitations with their heartfelt energy. Hesketh's yell of, "Every effort made to keep pushing on / just a promise that we'll be here next year," closes "Next Year," making it obvious Champion is in it for the long run.
Some hardcore bands stick out more than others and Champion is one of them. Promises Kept follows the trails stomped into the ground by the band's predecessors, but it sounds fresh with such a revitalized spirit.
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