Dive

Over its decade-and-a-half existence, Brooklyn band I Am The Avalanche has routinely faced and overcome personal, professional and existential challenges. Enter DIVE, their first since Wolverines. DIVE confronts a crushing year for independent musicians and comes out guns blazing, wall-to-wall with anthemic post-hardcore fight songs. “Reality came to us all this year,” says frontperson Vinnie Caruana. “You’ve lived this long. If you’re not enjoying life -- if you can’t find light somewhere -- I think it’s time to go and find it.”

Across DIVE, Caruana and guitarist/songwriting partner Mike Ireland, bassist Kellen Robson and guitarist Brandon Swanson plow through emotional maelstroms with cutting wit and hard-earned wisdom. Drummer Brett “The Ratt” Romnes is a powerhouse behind the kit and the band’s producer. The band’s mission statement is clear from the opening jolt of “Better Days” through the first line of “The Morning,” DIVE’s mountainous closer: "If I'm still alive come the morning, if I somehow make it through / you'll be the reason I still breathe; yes, I'll owe it all to you." Plenty of I Am The Avalanche fans have been shouting along to Caruana’s lyrics since The Movielife formed in the late ‘90s; with DIVE, that connection may be less tactile, but it’s every bit as vital.