Style: Swancore, progressive metal (Mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Hail the Sun, Good Tiger, Makari, I Met a Yeti
Country: United States
Release date: 9 May 2025

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Few forms of visual media have as distinct a musical identity as anime. To its viewers, the opening theme of a show is as integral to the experience as the show itself. Many OPs of the 2000s and 2010s, such as those of Death Note and Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto, are inspired by earwormy, high-tempo post-hardcore that reflects the grandeur and intensity in their otherwise mundane settings. In cyclic fashion, anime is now inspiring a new generation of punk musicians: Telemetry, the debut release by Atlanta swancore group Cascadent, is steeped in the aesthetics of Cowboy Bebop and the fervor of your favorite Naruto vs Sasuke AMV from 2006. Does Telemetry evoke the excitement of a Haikyu!! volleyball match, or is the Baku’s bargain not worth the price?

Telemetry is a fiery, labyrinthine, and progressive take on swancore, featuring intricate rhythms from drummer Sam Freeman (“Collision Hymn”, “The Baku’s Bargain”), downtempo asides (“Cauterized”, “Carousel Spin”), and psychedelic codas that wouldn’t sound out of place on The Mars Volta’s Deloused in the Comatorium (“Playground Parachute”). Guitar work by Jonathan Lee and Jonah Volk often takes center stage, ranging from celestial and iridescent (“Sunset, in a Sense”) to crunchy and groovy (“Collision Hymn”). Topping the record off are myriad vocal performances from several band members and guest performances from Michael Campbell (Satyr) and Johnmark Hendrix. Brief interludes are placed throughout as palate cleansers and subtle introductions to subsequent tracks. “halcyon.001”, for example, pairs foggy synth pads with a rambling piano arpeggio that then reveals itself to be the introductory riff of following track “Broken Waves”.

The prosody in Telemetry’s pieces absolutely screams ‘anime’: Cascadent’s music feels like it was designed to be in an AMV¹. Funky, lopsided bass thrums and staccato drumming evoke a high-speed chase through a bazaar on an alien planet on “Playground Parachute”. Its chorus breaks into hefty, straightforward chords and a punchy groove, culminating in a dramatic fight atop an iceberg. “Collision Hymn” feels like piloting a spaceship and slamming the thrust down to Ludicrous Speed, juxtaposing a flashy guitar lick with intermittent drumwork and rolling smoothly into intricate yet mosh-worthy chugs. “Watch the Tail” even feels like an OP to the record of sorts, opening Telemetry with huge, punctuated chords and a mixed clean-harsh vocal performance.

However, prosody and vibes alone aren’t enough to sell a song; thankfully, Telemetry backs up its ideas with tight songwriting, using effortless transitions to carefully build ideas to grand conclusions. “The Baku’s Bargain” layers its riffage with larger-than-life horns and continues mounting in intensity along its choruses, collapsing into chaos on the bridge to perfectly release its tension. In similar form, “Carousel Spin” features several peaks and valleys with dramatic, staccato choruses and subdued asides on its way to a titanic ending. However, what really brings Telemetry’s ideas together is the impressive interconnectedness of each member: the record would be lesser with any of its parts missing. The spacey, crystalline riffs of “Sunset, In a Sense”, for example, are excellent on their own, but intermixing these riffs with dancey drumwork and impassioned vocals elevates the track to new heights. 

The vocal arrangements in particular showcase the absolute brilliance of Cascadent’s teamwork. Primarily featuring performances from Bradley Pallone (cleans) and bassist John Samuel Mecum (harshes), Telemetry coalesces a bevy of vocal contributions from both bandmembers and guests alike². Pallone’s vocals are a perfect fit for swancore, holding command over the music in his powerful upper range. He follows up venomous harsh vocals from Michael Campbell with effortless gliding cleans on “Watch the Tail”³, evoking glimpses of Elliot Coleman from Good Tiger. The final moments of “Sunset, In a Sense” show Pallone intertwining with a kinetic drum groove to glide gracefully into a climax burning with evening pinks and cyans.

Mecum’s harshes are as integral to Cascadent’s sound as Pallone’s cleans, balancing the group’s hyper-melodicism with texture and lifting climaxes to giddy heights. Mecum deftly navigates fiery rhythmic chaos on “The Baku’s Bargain”, continually heightening his voice to an almost manic effect. He also shines in the coda of “Carousel Spin”: after a smooth, quiet passage led by Johnmark Hendrix, Mecum explodes into a swirling, acerbic bark, bringing Telemetry to a monstrous finale. Pallone and Mecum weave in and out of each other in fervent dialogue on “Watch the Tail”, overlapping in a demented waltz before coming together for the last line of the chorus. The duo pull this trick off a second time on “Broken Waves”, the former breaching a gravelly timbre while the latter deals searing retorts; the execution in both cases is lightning in a bottle. 

Telemetry is an utterly lovable ball of swancore chaos. Every part is an impossibly dense knot that, upon zooming out, reveals a greater tapestry of melodicism, texture, and energy. While each member can lay claim to standout performances throughout, the record’s strengths lie in the collaborative, interwoven nature of its compositions. Maintaining an expert blend of chaotic and cohesive, Telemetry is the ideal musical companion to that Fullmetal Alchemist Alphonse vs Pride AMV in your drafts.

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Recommended tracks: Collision Hymn, Playground Parachute, Sunset In a Sense, Carousel Spin
You may also like: Satyr, Twenty Below, Resilia, Colorbred, House of Leaves
Final verdict: 8.5/10

Related links: Facebook | Instagram

Label: Independent

Cascadent is:
– Jonathan Lee: guitars, vocals
– Bradley Pallone: vocals
– John Samuel Mecum: bass, vocals
– Samuel Freeman: drums
– Jonah Volk: guitars
With guests:
– Michael Campbell: vocals, track 1
– Johnmark Hendrix: vocals, track 11

1. In fact, the band even released an AMV for “Sunset, In a Sense”. ↩︎
2. Mecum intermittently contributes cleans across Telemetry as well in small doses on “Sunset, In a Sense” and “Broken Waves”. Jonathan Lee also contributes cleans on “Broken Waves”, and in Korean to boot! ↩︎
3. Campbell switches off with Mecum on harsh duties throughout the track—keeping track of who is who is frankly a bit head-spinning. ↩︎