Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Becoming the Archetype - The Physics of Fire (2007)
People seem to start their journey through the music of Becoming the Archetype with their debut album Terminate Damnation. I, on the other hand, have just started with their second album The Physics of Fire that covers a progressive melodeath sound. And this might just be a newfound favorite of mine!
As you can hear in The Physics of Fire, the band can really put their talents forward and show what they do best. Around then, the band entered the deathly progressive metal realms where Opeth is the ruler, and BTA have something different that is their metalcore influences. Fast technical soloing sears in grace, played by then-lead guitarist Alex Snow. Count Seth Hecox has some pounding guitar rhythms. Bassist/vocalist Jason Wisdom is steady on his unique vocals. Brett Duckett keeps his drumming pace tight.
The drumming already crashes in with the crushing opening track "Epoch of War". Interestingly, it is considered the 3rd part of the album's title suite. "Immolation" has pretty great cleans. The higher-quality "Autopsy" (second track in a row to have the same name as a death metal band) is my favorite here. The lyrics seem to follow the simple yet intriguing Christian theme of faith vs. fire. Although I'm not Christian, those kinds of lyrics are the best for me. "The Great Fall" is the actual first part of the title suite, and it's up to the listeners to decipher the lyrical story based on the arrangement of parts. That's the kind of challenge I like!
"Nocturne" is a nice instrumental intermission. Even when starting with piano and clean guitar, the heaviness that follows can still show the album's sound that combines the epic melodeath of Insomnium and Eternal Tears of Sorrow with the modern progressiveness of Tesseract and The Human Abstract. "The Monolith" has a nice clean jazzy guitar island in the sea of metal. My only major complaint for this song and the entire album is how that clean section abruptly switches back to usual hardcore progressive death sound without a proper warning. I really enjoy hearing a lot of ideas. There's more prominent keyboard usage in "Construct and Collapse", particularly in the intro. The riffing shines the most in "Endure" despite the song's short length.
"Fire Made Flesh", the actual second part of the title suite, has a bit of broken flow in the keyboards, but it still fits better when you hear piano instead of synths. "Second Death" is an excellent track with great potential in the vocals, working well with the brief turn into gothic doom in the intro. The 4th and final part of the title suite, "The Balance of Eternity" perfectly summarizes the lyrical theme of faith vs. fire, connecting well with this progressive epic to bring this glorious offering to a fantastic close.
Now this is the kind of metal sound I need in my life. And it's more than one sound, it's a sound of many sounds! Each song is unique in their own way, thereby proving the amazing talents these guys have. Yet another band has proven that Christian extreme metal is a thing. A fascinating heavy experience!
Favorites: "Autopsy", "The Great Fall", "Nocturne", "Endure", "Second Death", "The Balance of Eternity"