This album was released on May 17^th, 2019 on We Are Triumphant Records.

Andy Cizek has a knack for talent. From his solo covers on YouTube (that Sumerian audition still holds a special place in many hearts) to his last album with Makari just last year, the young man stays busy. The band he was in before he joined Makari, however, has been mostly inactive since the release of Precipice in 2016. As stated by the band, they haven’t played a show together in two years (at the time of this review) as well. Why did WVNDER sit on the backburner for so long? Regardless of what the answer to this question is, their new album Nothing Stays sits as their most mature release to date, and is able to show a progression that’s both natural and necessary for the band after the time they had off.

When “Fairytale” starts, the album already takes an approach that sounds like something off of Hyperreal, Cizek’s last album through Makari. There’s a grittier approach to his vocals on this project than his previous albums, and with his voice being at the front of the mix (a common theme with Cizek’s music), it really gives his improved style time to shine. Screams are featured sparsely throughout the course of the album, and when they are performed, they are mostly in place to solidify the emotion being presented throughout the first two acts of the song. Using screaming techniques during the final crescendo of several songs added to the vocal performance and overall ability of Cizek. There’s also a pseudo-rap section on “The Mess You Made” that just adds to Cizek’s dynamic range on this record.

The instrumental performance on this album is a mixture of pop punk and post-hardcore, which is already a deterrent to any band that tries to sound different (most bands who describe their music like this add screaming to light pop punk and label it post-hardcore), but where most bands implement this simple formula, WVNDER adds a more alternative rock approach to their background. This gives the album a dreamscape-like ambience and opens up for Cizek to shine on vocals. The drums are back in the mix, but they add just enough to keep the guitars soaring through the time signatures. The dynamics also change frequently throughout the course of Nothing Stays, as slower, ballad-like tracks lend themselves to soaring choruses and calm verses. There’s more of a peaceful presence on this album than on Precipice, and that may be due to the outside direction that led to the creation of NS, but there is still a mastery here that deserves to be paid attention to.

If you are a fan of Andy Cizek, Makari, or practically any post-hardcore / alternative rock / swancore band, Nothing Stays will have something for you. The influence taken for the creation of this album added a lot of different sounds to the overall structure and soundscape of the record, and although not as technical as Precipice, there’s still a lot to take in with this album, and hopefully that includes a future past the Nothing Stays, which sounds like some possible foreshadowing.

Rating: 8/10

Favorite Songs: “Artorias”, “Hourglass”, “Nothing Stays”