Adelphia

iTunes Review

Although many music critics categorize them as screamo, the Lodi, California sextet A Skylit Drive tag themselves as post-hardcore. But be they screamo or post-hardcore, one thing is for certain — frontman Michael Jagmin’s vocal style is unarguably the most original sounding in either genre, as he inflects like a young Geddy Lee with a remarkably high and dynamic tenor that contrasts beautifully when soaring alongside drummer Cory LaQuay’s snarling, guttural screams. Adelphia is a concept album named after a fictional fantastical metropolis conceptualized by guitar player Joey Wilson. “Prelude to a Dream” opens with darkened soundscapes painted by Kyle Simmions’ synthesizers before LaQuay’s throat-splitting growls usher in Jagmin’s ascending melodies to carry the song skyward. Barbed guitar riffs kick-start the arresting “Those Cannons Could Sink A Ship” before Jagmin delivers the most melodic singing here. “See You Around” closes the album with handclaps and a capella harmonies as Adelphia’s two protagonists escape the evil city alive.