Shoreline: Is This The Low Point Or The Moment After?

German emo/hardcore act Shoreline are back with ‘Is This The Low Point Or The Moment After?’ the follow up to 2024’s ‘To Figure Out’. ‘Is This The Low Point Or The Moment After?’ is a concept album that dares the listener to recall the situations in life when they’ve hit rock bottom and consider if they were able to point out the moment from which things got better again?

First song ‘Worry Count’ is dramatic and brooding building in tension before erupting into a massive chorus where singer Hansol Seung screams ‘I’ve got my mistakes, just like you I can't stop thinking bout them all’. This transitions seamlessly into ‘Brittle Bond’ a song which showcases the band's knack to combine catchy melodies with heart wrenching lyricism.

Next is ‘Sweet Spot’ one of the two lead singles from the album. With souring backing vocals and high energy drum fills, it’s a very catchy pop punk song which wouldn’t feel out of place on a Warped Tour sample CD. Speaking of Warped Tour, the other single ‘Forgive’ features Joe Taylor of Knuckle Puck who lends his distinctive voice to this post-hardcore anthem. ‘Paradox Man’ sees Shoreline leaning into their hardcore roots with Seung abandoning the clean singing of the prior four songs and adopting a blood curdling roar as drums and guitars thrash around him. ‘Synchronize’ begins fairly similarly to how ‘Worry Count’ did with an atmospheric intro before Seung breaks the peace, screaming ‘We are two clocks, synchronized by the minute’ before the band drops into another excellent piece of post-hardcore.

‘Out Of Touch’ sees Shoreline channel their inner Amo era Bring Me The Horizon. Melodic synths are littered through this track and the huge choruses are perfectly crafted for a big crowd sing-a-long. ‘Youthfully Naive’ opening/main riff is one of best on the record, instantly catchy yet heavy, again there are some great backing vocals on this track, and some really gorgeous chorus laden guitarwork in the clean sections.

Final track ‘Phantom Pain’ certainty takes you on a journey. Opening with what I can only imagine, Turnstile covering ‘Purple Rain’ might sound like Shoreline are swinging for the fences on this closer. Introducing steel drums as well as banjo into the sonic mix is definitely a bold move at this point in the album, but not being satiated with just that Seung even has a go at rapping in this song. An epic guitar solo and some really powerful screams from Seung lead us into the outro of this song, which sees Shoreline stripped to just Seung and a banjo as the track fades out.

‘Is This The Low Point Or The Moment After?’ is a solid modern pop punk album, which sees Shoreline go bigger on the melodies and heavier on the riffs, whilst not all the experiments land, the skillful and precise song writing and performances cannot be questioned.