INSURGENT GOING OUT WITH A BANG - 'COLOURS BLEED'

Insurgent caused a wave with their first single release ‘counterpart’ late last year and have since performed multiple shows across Birmingham. On the 5^th of March 2020, they came back with their second single “colours bleed” that hits with the same intense sound and mind-blowing vocals that make the hairs on all parts of my body stand up.

After hearing ‘Counterpart’ upon it’s release, I was nervous that Insurgent wouldn’t be able to carry on banging out singles that could hold any weight when comparing them to the first release, but ‘colours bleed’ has set my mind to rest and made me question why I was ever worried in the first place. If you meet any member of Insurgent you can immediately tell how passionate these guys are about making good music, they carry this feeling throughout everything they do and it makes for some pretty outstanding sounds. 

The reverb-y vocals give this almost ethereal sound - which I think I also said about the previous single if I remember correctly – I really enjoy this sound though, the reverb isn’t thrown in your face but adds this really nice layer in the background that gives the sound a little something more. The backing vocals in the breakdown are just super cool, Katie has this way of screaming with so much power but still managing to sound insanely beautiful at the same time, absolutely in love. Just watching Katie sing so many words with so much power and then also perfectly execute these gorgeous vocal runs made me feel out of breath.  

I do think that the sound of Insurgent relies on the sound of Katie – don’t get me wrong, I know that obviously they’re all incredibly talented musicians in their own right but Katie’s vocal tone is so unique and intense that now, the contrast between the heavy, deep instrumental and Katie’s ‘musical theatre’ trained vocals is what defines their music for me and I wouldn’t want it any other way. 

I’m not sure where or who the deeper (male?) vocals came from but they give a slight contrast that isn’t enough to chop up the song but noticeably works to extenuate the deeper tones throughout the song.  I like the deeper instrumental tones that have been used through this song, it gives an angst-y feel without letting any instrument get lost in another. It can be hard to stop heavy instrumentals from sounding muddy when they’re playing such similar deep tones but the guitar and bass both work alongside one another perfectly and blend to create a really complimentary sound. 

Now, do I think metal bands knocking out music videos of them performing in the woods is maybe overdone by now? Yes. But I actually did like this video a lot. The visual of the silhouettes performing in front of that jaw-droopingly beautiful sunset is so gorgeous and perfectly works alongside the single’s title ‘colours bleed’ as the warm shades melt into one another with the sun set. This video might not be something super new and exciting but it serves it’s purpose graciously and creates a really beautiful visual for a great song. 

‘Colours bleed’ is unmistakably ‘Insurgent’, even after only two singles they have a solid sound that is distinct and unique to them. Unfortunately, they announced that this will be their last release and as of today are going their separate ways - at least they're going out with a bang.