Straight out of the heart of Youngstown, Ohio, TiLT 360 returns with a crushing, cathartic new single, “Blindspot.” Returning to the musical fray after a long hiatus, in which their last previous length of activity had been in 2010, the band brandishes vividly the same emotional power that once made them a powerhouse on the alternative metal and grunge rock scene.
Featuring the brawny grinding riffs that call to mind bands like Helmet and early Deftones, “Blindspot” doesn’t waste a second of your time drawing you in with its ominous, emotional allure. Pacing is methodical and unremitting for the track, and guitarist Jason Miller gives us heavy, layered tones with a sense that is both newfound and nostalgic, and he’s merging the headband of metal with the soulful rumble of grunge. His coming on board with the band in 2005 wasn’t so much a personnel transfer as it was a sea change. Well, on “Blindspot,“ that chemistry comes to fruition.
Singer Billy Smaltz gives the show a rawness that gets to you, singing the pain of his own battles with addiction in every song. The sound of his voice is singing, but it’s also scarring. There’s a lived-in pain and a vulnerability here that cuts through the instrumentation, reminding you that TiLT 360 isn’t simply for surface-level angst. This is the sound of struggle, the sound of truth.
Beneath the walls of sound, bassist Drew Salzano and drummer Heather Jurina erupt with a rhythmic backbone that’s as melodious and punishing. Jurina’s drums pound like a war chant beneath the chaos, and Salzano’s bass lines provide the song a grounded, yet urgent, grip that clutches the chest.
TiLT 360 embraces inspiration from bands like Alice In Chains, Tool, and Filter and crafts that intellectual capital into something definitively its own. It’s a sound straddling nostalgia and futurism already striking a chord with a new generation online. Having returned more than a decade later, TiLT 360 is reminding us what it is to feel raw and honest. With “Blindspot,” they’ve zeroed in on it in the fog, and it’s positively blinding.
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