Varials shot their “Bleeding” music video on July 14, 2019 in a parking lot across the Voltage Lounge in Philadelphia.

Varials, a metalcore band from Philadelphia, released four new songs from their upcoming album “In Darkeness” on Monday. The band consists of five members, and they are signed by Fearless Records. Travis Tabron is the lead vocalist. Mitchell Rogers and James Hohenwarter both play guitar. Mike Foley is the bassist and Sean Rauchut is the drummer. 

The album is set to release on Oct. 11, however, right now fans can enjoy four new songs and three new music videos while they wait. The band released the music videos in a “choose your own adventure” style. On their website indarkeness.club, there’s a series of multiple choice questions. One of the three music videos pops up based off the answers.

My favorite has to be “Romance”. The song starts with the instrumentals building up for 15 seconds until everything stops and listeners are put into a crowded room with muffled voices.  Somehow they captured the feeling of being alone at a party or a bar, drunk with lonely idealistic thoughts, and feeling sensitive to any slight movement from the “tones of a voice” to the “chills on skin.”

Tabron’s voice sets a chilling, eerie vibe. The song breaks down on the last lyrics, “you bring me closer to God.” Everything speeds up briefly until a scream slows things down, and we’re put back into the noisy room.  

“The Love Machine” picks up where “Romance” left. People online are comparing the sound to the deftness. In the “Romance/The Love Machine” video, the party is over during “The Love Machine.” Tabron wakes up hungover on the ground. He stumbles into the bathroom to puke. Right next to him Rauchut, the drummer, lays down in the shower with the water running and an empty bottle in his lap. Tabron then goes downstairs to join the rest of the band to finish out the song. The video is blurry on purpose to put listeners in the hungover mind.

“Is it real or is it superficial/ If it’s from the love machine/ I won’t waste any more of your time.” The lyrics relate to the morning after thoughts after a night drinking. It’s hard to tell if something happened was real or fake. In the morning, fragmented thoughts from the night are vainly pieced together in hopes to make sense of a reality that doesn’t feel real.

The next song, “Bleeding,” is one those songs that gets the blood pumped. It would be a great workout song to listen while running. Their music video for “Bleeding” was shot on July 14 in a parking lot across the Voltage Lounge in Philadelphia. Fans were invited to listen to the new song and be a part of the video.  People were either stage diving, head banging, or moshing like they would at any metalcore concert. As far as I know, only one person was bleeding during the “Bleeding” shoot.  About 60 people and one dog showed up. The dog, however, didn’t stay long because the ground became too hot. It was so hot out that an ice cream man saved the day when he arrived in his truck, which can be seen in the video.

People who never experienced a hardcore show might have expected more bloodshed. In reality, everyone looked out for each other. All the stage divers were caught before hitting the ground. There were people helping others from getting crushed. The people kicking and flailing in the air stayed in the mosh pit away from the rest of the crowd. 

“I Suffocate” like “Bleeding” hits hard. The song captures the feeling of being angry at a situation that leaves someone trapped with no room to breathe. It makes a person want to punch the wall and scream. The video shows the band playing in an empty warehouse. Meanwhile, a man in a white collared shirt is suffocating. The man reminds me of the average worker who hates their job but is unable to leave because they need money to survive this capitalistic society.

If the rest of the songs are like the first four released, then I’m excited to hear the rest. People can preorder the album “In Darkness,” which will release Oct. 11. Varials will be playing a show in Philadelphia at The Foundry on Nov. 20 with Counterparts and other bands.

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