Embodyment - The Narrow Scope of Things (2000)^{Release ID: 29059}

The heaviest grind-ish deathcore was in the minds of many Embodyment fans when they placed this EP into their stereos around the time of its release. Imagine the surprise and disappointment they would feel after finding out that all the extreme heaviness is gone. Embodyment really changed their style to accommodate a new lineup, which included vocalist Sean Corbay with cleaner singing. The Narrow Scope of Things dumped all of their deathcore roots for a hardcore-esque alt-metal sound. Embodyment is actually as good at melody and atmosphere as they were in brutality, and this new aspect worked out successfully, though it could never beat the deathcore material...

Like I said, there's actual clean singing in the album. For a band that used to be deathcore, this was a first! Corbay has mixed a few of the growls McCaddon was performing, with shouting and singing. The guitar duo has one different person, but they still play a perfect part in clever effects and amazing riffs. We even have a d*mn powerful rhythm section. The prominent bass sounds malicious despite this more melodic sound, and the relevant pummeling of the drums remain sedate.

"Winter Kiss" starts the melodic emotion right away, with Corbay's heartful lyrics alongside the dynamic guitar duo of Andrew Godwin and Jason Lindquist. "Pendulum" is more aggressive, with bass Derrick Wadsworth's dominating work and the instrumentation and vocals sounding close to emocore. "One Less Addiction" is more melodic and adds diversity to the album, yet the heaviness is still around at times. Occasionally we have Korn-like harmony in "Greedy Hands", and that can be a small issue when you're going for less of the overwhelming mainstream.

There's more sporadic structure in "Confessions". Then we have the hardcore headbanger "Assembly Line Humans". Despite being called "Prelude", it's not actually a prelude to another song, but it has hard groove tendencies. "Killing the Me in Me" also brings back a bit of the killer downtuned heaviness.

For "Critical Error", I don't have a lot to say here with sounding too critical, but it's still pretty good. Continuing the misleading titles, "Ballad" is nowhere close to a ballad, unless you're talking about the mid-tempo pace. They should saved that title for the acoustic reprise of "One Less Addiction". Beautiful but not really the strongest. "The Aftermath of Closure" is the band's 6-minute closer (probably their longest song) that seems repetitive in the simple power chords. They probably could've closed it better...

Other than the need for slight improvements in the last few songs, The Narrow Scope of Things is greater than I thought. They successful made a stunning new change of sound that other bands could get shunned for doing. Sadly, their heaviness would die out for two more rock albums. Still this a good plain rock/metal music for anyone!

Favorites: "Winter Kiss", "Pendulum", "One Less Addiction", "Assembly Line Humans", "Prelude", "Killing the Me in Me"