Emerging Artist Reviews

Contact Front Releases Debut EP "0"

by The Metalverse

Updated August 21, 2025

Contact Front Releases Debut EP, "0" | The Metalverse.net

Tracklist:

Life Slips Away (Part 1)
Life Slips Away (Part 2)
Hollow
Phase (Interlude)
Dust Ascendant
Death’s Final Frontier

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania extreme metal act Contact Front just unleashed their debut EP, 0, on August 8th. The EP starts off with a ballad-like intro as dark piano melodies and bright singing create a powerfully harmonic atmosphere. Life Slips Away (Part 1) is just vocals and piano, showcasing a softer side to the act that may initially surprise listeners.

Life Slips Away (Part 2) continues the piano melodies of it predecessor seamlessly, this time though Contact Front launches into action with progressive guitar arpeggios, slamming drum grooves, and explosively heavy screams–bringing extreme metal influences to the forefront. Contact Front continues their melodic influences as screaming and singing alternates, similarly to a modern metalcore vocal dynamic. With Life Slips Away (Part 2), the Philly band delivers blistering heaviness, cinematic theatrics, bright melodies, and a distinct sound that seems to blend genres like metalcore, progressive metal, and death metal with non-traditional metal influences like classical piano. With one of the catchiest choruses of the entire EP, Contact Front starts off strong, sure to catch listeners.

Next up is Hollow, which starts with a visceral guitar riff and building drum beats that soon burst into a sound that resembles death metal as wildly low screams, technical drums with grooving high-hats, and speeding thrash pacing create a brutally heavy soundscape. Hollow keeps things short and pulls no punches, with only harsh vocals from start to finish, showcasing Contact Fronts more aggressive side of their music.

Phase acts as a 30-second ambient interlude that leads excellently into the next track, Dust Ascendant. Dueling ambient guitars soon build into a matching riff that comes back, this time featuring intensely heavy down-tuned guitar chugs as double bass drum patterns create a slamming sound met by raw screams. In our opinion, Dust Ascendant is the heaviest track of the album, taking influence from early Gojira with groove-based progressive death metal that is explosive, fast, and chunky. In a gradual end, Contact Front brings back the ambient guitar from the intro to lead into the next song.

The final track Deaths Final Frontier starts off with racing blast beats, shrill screams, and crushing riffage in a sound that draws parallels to death metal, thrash, and black metal. Contact Front creates a unique sense of dyamincs throughout 0 as the first tracks contain clean vocals and more cinematic, melodic elements–meanwhile, as the EP builds, the songs become more raw, destructive, and extreme. Deaths Final Frontier ends in a grand finale with a final burst of electrifying riffage.

Overall, 0 is a very impressive debut release that showcases a unique sound from the beginning of Contact Front's discography. Blending classical piano, death metal, progressive metal, and metalcore into a cohesive sound that evolves throughout 0, Contact Front creates an exciting and distinct sound.

You can stream Contact Front's Debut EP, 0, out everywhere now!