Stitched Up Heart - Never Alone (2016) FLAC

The goth metal Stitched Up Heart formed in Los Angeles in 2010. When the initial incarnation parted ways, lead singer Alecia "Mixi" Demner created a new band. In the beginning, the band's visual and sonic aesthetic were a little Tokio Hotel-meets-Paramore. This anime-goth-with-emo enunciation informed much of their 2012 self-released debut EP, Escape the Nightmare, which included "Dead Walkin'" and "Is This the Way to Get to Hell." Their second EP, Skeleton Key, followed two years later and ramped up their sound with heavier riffs and shredding screams, which featured prominently on singles "Grave" and "Frankenstein." The brutal evolution (more Evanescence-meets-In This Moment) carried into 2015 with the haunting single "Finally Free," which unveiled a new lineup (Decker on drums, Merritt and Dorian on guitars, and Randy on bass), a more cohesive sound, and a new look for the band. Their debut album for Another Century Records, Never Alone, was released in June 2016. Featuring downtuned guitars and pummeling drums, Never Alone debuted in the Top 10 of both the Billboard Heatseeker and Hard Rock charts. ~ Neil Z. Yeung