Cerebral Circus is a hardcore highlight reel of an album that any band could hope for at the moment when more eyes and ears are on the scene than ever. What more is that it’s INITIATE’s most definitive statement to date on the art of self-realization, connecting the head, heart, and every nerve ending into an enlightened being rising straight up from the depths of the pit. The Cali-centric five-piece have tapped into as sweet of a spot as can be as well with their aggressive style of melodic hardcore, harvesting energy from life’s tribulations and stepping up to them. Vocalist Crystal Pak leads the charge across the 10-track, 20-minute catharsis, meditating on her place in the world through a duality of confrontation and allowing herself the space to see these experiences before acting on them. It renders parts of the listen as an all-out existentialist war built around heavier riffs and grooves courtesy of guitarists Riley and Jack McTomney, bassist Michael Morales and drummer Danny Paul, and others where her cleaner vocals push through stormier views that borders pop-punk in its silver linings. In its final act, “Transparency”, Pak emerges from the smolder in spoken word before an electric guitar solo ascends her through the air. Like a phoenix consumed by its own fire power, INITIATE have reached a new form.

Highlights: “Waste Your Life”, “Your Own Means”, “The Surface”

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INITIATE’s Cerebral Circus is available now on Triple B Records.