Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Reviews
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"
Genres: Alternative Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2000
Welcome to the proper start of deathcore! While this is the one genre many people, especially extreme metalheads, hated the most, you don't wanna miss out on the real gems. Some of the best are the ones who pioneered the genre, and bands like Eighteen Visions and Prayer for Cleansing helped out in the genre's development. Before this album, deathcore barely existed. Some death metal bands like Suffocation and Obituary would remain key influences to that destructive future, and Damaged and Deformity tested out hardcore elements in their own attempt at creating the genre. However, one band that really kickstarted deathcore is Embodyment!
Something interesting is the band's Christian background that was highly unusual in death metal at that time. Whether you're fan of Christian metal or death metal/core, Embrace The Eternal is a must-listen, containing influences from Suffocation, Morbid Angel, and for the idea of Christian death metal, Mortification. Kris McCaddon has done great primal vocal work, and would've made the band more popular and staying in their deathcore sound if he didn't leave the band.
"20 Tongues" starts with an excerpt of a speech from a preacher, starting with a chant of "Hallelujah!", then the deathcore action begins alongside McCaddon's snarls. "Breed" showcases lyrics of Christian struggles through beliefs ("Falling to my knees a servant unto Christ in this world of disease"). "Swine" swings through like a pendulum.
For "Blinded", if you combine the metalcore of Converge at that time with the Christian death metal of Mortification, that killer track would be it. One song re-recorded from an earlier demo is "Religious Infamy" with brutal growls from Bruce Fitzhugh of Living Sacrifice. "Strength" is definitely a strong highlight. "Golgotha" is another song re-recorded from a demo. It really stays true to the deathcore sound this album has spawned, and is one of the best here.
"Carnival Chair" is as sinister as a creepy carnival clown, in a good way. The ultimate climax is in "Embrace" where, at a 3-minute mark, a mid-paced melodic yet dissonant riff plays that alone would be the big bang for bands like Suicide Silence, Whitechapel, and maybe even Knocked Loose. Then it all ends with the ominous outro "Rm 144".
Embrace the Eternal is a far more interesting start of deathcore than those two 1997 albums I've reviewed. Unfortunately, their 3 subsequent albums embraced a melodic alt-metal/rock sound, getting softer album after album until they split after the 4th. Members of the original lineup would later start a short-lived project, The Famine. Anyway, it's this album that would fully pioneer deathcore and set the stage for bands like Despised Icon and Suicide Silence. An underrated gem for a new deathly beginning!
Favorites: "20 Tongues", "Blinded", "Strength", "Golgotha", "Embrace"
Genres: Death Metal Metalcore
Format: Album
Year: 1998
Beginning as a progressive death metal band, Synergy was Extol's twist into a more thrashy sound that surprised their listeners. Then came another progression in sound... The Blueprint Dives is a superb album, but not for those who prefer their earlier deathly era. Simply this album is for those who like something more melodic and technical. I guess you can say it's a blueprint to a different sound evolution, more melodic while staying complex! How progressive is that?!
I really love the lyrics here. They're Christian, though I'm not, but it's a pleasant break from all the irreligious satanic sh*t that other extreme bands have. Extol can stand by their religious ground and that's something even a not-so-religious metalhead can appreciate. Those lyrics just sound so real, fitting with the melodies. Yep, there's a lot of melody in this album that shines so beautifully. Still there are times when vocals can get emotional in sadness and rage, which is what I prefer in progressive metal nowadays; melodic while a bit of extreme here and there.
What's not to love about "Gloriana"? It's a perfectly beautiful opener! "Soul Deprived" shows some of the most speedy intensity from a Christian band since Soul Embraced. Next track, the longer "In Reversal" decreases the harsh vocals for more of the cleans. Then "Pearl" has the clean vocals completely take over. Add a female vocalist and that would be Evanescence at that time.
In the middle of the intense "From the Every Day Mountain Top" is a soft acoustic guitar break. "Another Adam's Escape" lacks the spark the other songs have, but it doesn't cut down the album's solid perfection. The somber "The Things I Found" is my favorite track here. It starts almost dark, but the chorus is so emotional in the lyrics. Awesome!
Next track "Lost in Dismay" is another calm break. "Essence" is slightly weak but doesn't affect the rest of the album. The album is approaching its dark end with the somber "Void". The album closes with the highlight "The Death Sedative", reaching the most depressive point of the album, creating a darker atmosphere closer to post-metal. Of course, the US edition bonus track "Riding for a Fall" is also beautiful and intense.
If anyone wants to hear clean vocals from Extol, The Blueprint Dives is the best place for them. There's much more of them than any of the band's earlier material, and it's as perfect as the equally great screaming. Any metalhead as open-minded as I am, dive in!
Favorites: "Gloriana", "Soul Deprived", "Pearl", "The Things I Found", "Void", "The Death Sedative"
Genres: Progressive Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2005
Hardcore is not an easy genre to describe significantly when the identity and impact is limited. That's where Code Orange come in to shake things up without the need to compromise! They can bravely let out their opinion in the metalcore realms, including avoiding the "obnoxiously-behaving" metalcore/deathcore scene of bands like Asking Alexandria (whom I also like), along with fully showing their move into the more open adulthood by removing "Kids" from their band name. After releasing their first two albums via Deathwish Records, they switched to the more well-known Roadrunner, with a brand-new colliding force on the way in the album Forever!
You can certainly consider Forever a hardcore/metalcore record with all that brutal intensity and passionate aggression that mark their usual conventions. However, they accentuate beyond those conventions for a different diverse thrill ride. If you think the first listen is fun, you certainly find joy when listening further. You'll never get tired of highly numerous twists and turns in this metalcore mayhem.
The title track starts that spectacular gauntlet, opening with a furious fistful of riffing. You can't ignore all that confidence, especially when the declaration of "CODE ORANGE IS FOREVER!!!" and the brutal breakdown that follows. "Kill the Creator" continues that savage frantic sound, with a half-minute of stomping groove and a 6-second industrial noise interruption that shows how experimental the band can be. Abrupt while not too random to make sure you don't expect the unexpected. The breakdowns and riffs get juggled through with energy and power within the weight. "Real" opens in the horror of Nine Inch Nails-like riffing, later leading to another pre-moshing cry of "THIS IS REAL NOW, MOTHERF***ER!" The closest surprise here is "Bleeding in the Blur", sounding like a potential radio single while still being a dark rulebreaker.
The electronic-esque "The Mud" is aptly titled in the dirty heaviness. There's more that heavy weight in "The New Reality". The riffing in "Spy" swings hard, especially the nu metal-ish intro. There's a sweet mix in "Ugly" of 90s Alice in Chains-like alt-rock/metal, European death metal, and goth-pop, all colliding together, with help from Reba Meyers and her clean vocal arsenal.
"No One is Untouchable" has the pure violence to make sure no one forgets their brutal roots. Through further downward spiraling territory, "Hurt Goes On" is full-on industrial dance with a slight bit of the hardcore. Then "dream2" ends things on a soft eerie note, but rather abruptly. That part doesn't matter though...
So this record is quite short at only 35 minutes. Most albums made this short and even shorter are from grindcore bands like Nails. However, unlike those bands who tear things apart in a frenzy, Code Orange makes sure everything transcends smoothly, the way tech-death band Martyr would; abstract while causing pain only to the weak. You can very well turn into a werewolf and the next thing you remember would be how sharp your teeth were and how much blood from others has covered your body. Code Orange has pleased metalheads with a simplistic yet stylistic sound that would steamroll right through in Forever. Code Orange is FOREVER!
Favorites: "Forever", "Real", "Bleeding in the Blur", "The New Reality", "Ugly", "No One is Untouchable"
Genres: Metalcore
Format: Album
Year: 2017
I'm glad to find a recent favorite band in Code Orange. Not only did their recent material help me find more interest in industrial metal, but their earlier albums are one spark that helped open my metalcore ears to more hardcore than melodic. Here's one album, I Am King!
Now that Code Orange was ready to face the world after their debut, they wanted to show that they're more than the hardcore kids they were earlier. That's one reason to drop the word "Kids" from their moniker. Having just reached age 20 on average, they decided to shake things up for their second album in an attempt to please the world they would soon travel. With their headbanging mix of hardcore, metal, rock, and a bit of drone, I Am King would stand out among other albums as a unique record.
The title track starts with opening and closing walls of distorted sound before the volume and power increase for their usual hardcore/metalcore. Following that is the intense "Slowburn", a menacing yet artful hybrid. "Dreams In Inertia" stands out as the bridge between the next two tracks that would be in contrast with one another... "Unclean Spirit" perfectly proves that point with evil grindcore torment that the more experienced listeners, like myself, would find this an easy breeze-through. "Alone in a Room" is the yang to the previous track's yin, here sounding more sludgy as part of keeping the intense spirit.
The more ambient-ish "My World" is another album highlight! Heaviness is still obvious in "Starve", but it actually sounds closer to dream-pop in the soft parts. Then it gets intense again in "Your Body Is Ready", sound as furious as The Locust.
"Thinners of the Herd" sounds quite thin in the instrumentation, but they can still break through with their hardcore attack. "Bind You" sounds more metal, but in a way that would metalize a band like At the Drive-In. The moody ending track "Mercy", closes the album mercilessly, though it sounds more repetitive than the impressive rest of the album. Still nothing to complain about...
Other than that slightly poor closer, the 28 minutes before it are absolutely pummeling and breathtaking. I'm telling you, in this league of band trying to bring back the heaviness of the earlier hardcore and metalcore and then some, Code Orange is king!
Favorites: "Dreams In Inertia", "Unclean Spirit", "Alone in a Room", "My World", "Your Body Is Ready", "Bind You"
Genres: Metalcore
Format: Album
Year: 2014
Turning 18 allows you access to voting, guns, and X-rated porn, as you're ready to leave your adolescent years behind and enter the real responsibilities of adulthood (though turning 21 is like an extension pack). 18 is also the age where, even though there's no minimum age in starting a band, many bands were getting a head-start in making the best music out there, young with nothing to lose! This band was one of them...
It would make sense for Code Orange to originally have the original name Code Orange Kids, since they were high school kids at that time. Back then, they were reviving the metallic hardcore sound that was around at the time the members were born. Love is Love // Return to Dust puts them in the climbing heights they deserved!
"Flowermouth (The Leech)" opens with a scream, literally screaming, as the instrumentation rises. Then "Around My Neck // On My Head" is short and straight compared to most of the album, and it's probably this album's weakness. "Sleep (I've Been Slipping)" is short as well, but its slower pace reminds me of Cult of Luna's debut. There's some harmonic cleans in "Liars // Trudge" during the second half, while its first half is a strong extreme part of the album.
After that intense race, it's necessary for "Colors (Into Nothing)" to break things up, with Adam McIlwee of Tigers Jaw performing cleans. Producer Kurt Ballou (guitarist of Converge) definitely influenced the band in "Nothing (The Rat)". The more hardcore fans would love "Roots Are Certain // Sky is Empty", but it's a little awkward in placement.
"Choices (Love is Love)" shows the band building up harsh chaotic noise, all let loose at the end. "Calm // Breathe" is the calm intermission in the middle of this title track suite. Texture harmonies would keep you relax as noise builds up again before the deafening chaos returns in the closing track... "Bloom (Return to Dust)" crushes you with anger and frustration. And speaking of frustration, that's how I felt about the abrupt cut-off at the end, but it's a sign for me to turn off the tormenting greatness and wake up.
I'm not an expert at the more hardcore side of metalcore, which I've been slowly developing my knowledge for lately. Nonetheless, Code Orange has set up quite a challenge for their younger peers to write more than just breakdowns in their heavy sounds. Love is Love // Return to Dust is where this band thought of great elements to break traditions for something new. They've shown that hardcore is more than just a culture with this underrated heavy apocalyptic style. It's quite a captivating line between sludge from Old Man Gloom at that time and what can set off a pit, but what matters is the savage terror of old-school metallic hardcore, redefined!
Favorites: "Sleep (I've Been Slipping)", "Liars // Trudge", "Nothing (The Rat)", "Choices (Love is Love)", "Bloom (Return to Dust)"
Genres: Metalcore
Format: Album
Year: 2012
"Meshuggah record an album with such complex time signatures they get trapped inside the music. The album is never released for fear of opening a black hole." This was one of Andrew O'Neill's future predictions in the History of Heavy Metal book I've reviewed. Well it seems like their record label has the guts to release such an album, so if any of you thought the band were trapped within their music and it would cause the end of the galaxy as we know it, prepare to be relieved while hearing what to expect!
Normally, it would take Meshuggah 3 or 4 years to release an album, but Immutable was finally released after a long 6 years, with the virus causing some delays. Meshuggah have returned with their signature djent sound while evolving into new territory. Immutable is a long 67-minute ride through their usual djent tones in farther ground!
Staccato riffing opens "Broken Cog" sounding mathy and almost industrial. The guitar leads heading into a melodic angel while keeping the djent record straight is performed by the wild duo of Mårten Hagström and Fredrik Thordendal, while vocalist Jens Kidman sounds restrained yet sinister. "The Abysmal Eye" blasts into your face h*lla killer sh*t right here! You could reassemble the music and lyrics and it would still be legit Meshuggah. Definitely some heavy fire they still have since Koloss, maybe even Nothing. I just love this groove-ish djent style that Tomas Haake plays loud in his drumming. I seriously like it! This wakes me up way more than coffee and tea. The ending riff pulls off some sick heavy burn. I recommend this song to djent fans all around! "Light the Shortening Fuse" is another hail of a killer song! At two and a half minutes is a cleaner part that's the best here. I'm sure Jinjer has done the same in one of their songs. After that energetic trio, "Phantoms" is just two notes alternating in the first half. WHY?!? It lacks any built tension! The mundane verse-chorus structure in a mid-paced tempo doesn't help. The slow "Ligature Marks" has unstable weight but has a promising climax.
"God He Sees in Mirrors" adds variation to the tempo, shredding through killer bass riffing, guitar harmonics, and more of the wild polyrhythms in the drumming. Some of the most aggressive extreme progressive metal this year! The nearly 10-minute instrumental "They Move Below" mixes slow gothic melody with monstrous riffing, something to come to the minds of early Killing Joke listeners. "Kaleidoscope" has that heavy-a** djent riffing Meshuggah invented in Nothing. The guitar and bass circle around Haake's swinging drum groove. Then we have a shorter instrumental, "Black Cathedral". If we could add blast-beat drumming behind the metal guitar, that would've been awesome.
"I Am That Thirst" provides melodic leads over catchy death metal-ish rhythm. "The Faultless" progresses through a dissonant angle in the guitar as Haake's drumming thunders through again. "Armies of the Preposterous" is the last full song of the album, and the heaviest too, closer to deathly progressive metal. "Past Tense" is the album's instrumental closer. The guitar has harmonic melody throughout without any earth-shattering climax, but it sounds as if horror lurks beneath, waiting for more to come...
In the end, Immutable maintains Meshuggah's djent essence despite a couple setbacks in its first half. The band's comfort zone continues to shine with hellishly obliterating downtuned metal while relentlessly pushing through the boundaries for more discoveries awaiting....
Favorites: "The Abysmal Eye", "Light the Shortening Fuse", "God He Sees in Mirrors", "Kaleidoscope", "The Faultless", "Armies of the Preposterous"
Genres: Progressive Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2022
OK, it was actually this album The Death of Me that got me interested in Polaris, via a couple awesome songs that I included in my earlier Revolution playlists. Those songs made me excited to hear the rest of the album and this band's material, and I'm extremely glad to have done it. This album might just be the best of 2020!
The Mortal Coil is a mind-blowing breakthrough for Polaris after their two EPs, and the perfection is maintained in The Death of Me which already solidifies their reign in the Australian metalcore scene. The sophomore full-length release from this band offers more prog-ish darkness and maturity. They continue to expand their boundaries as they continue their saga without losing steam.
Opening track "Pray for Rain" starts melodic, but frontman's Jamie Hails' screams rise as the intricate instrumentation builds up. Then finally, they drop the divebomb, exploding into their usual technical metalcore sound, and adding to the brilliant mix is the clean singing of bassist/vocalist Jake Steinhauser. Such a well-structured standout that I almost feel like stopping the album right there because how much the song is worth repeating. Fortunately, I'm still going, and we have the ultra-heavy "Hypermania". The vocals are all just screams from both Steinhauser and Hails. With lots of heavy groove, that song is indeed so hyper and manic! "Masochist" is a a f***ing phenomenal song to share, with metallic hardcore vibes from Bring Me the Horizon, Periphery, and Loathe. This underrated sh*t might just be one of my favorite metalcore songs!
That song and "Landmine" are the two songs from my earlier Revolution playlists that got me into listening to this band, the latter being another one of the best songs here! First track from this band I listened to and that really made me pay more attention to them. That insane breakdown really crushes and revives my soul. This band's heaviness shall wipe out the fluffiness of the mainstream. This band can combine some of the nu metal of Stray From the Path and Slipknot with the metalcore of Architects and The Devil Wears Prada. Or just be Make Them Suffer without female singing and with Northlane-like riffing. "Vagabond" hints at a different direction the band would have later, adding a bit of mainstream nu metal while standing by their usual technicality. This might actually reach some radios if the killer harsher side doesn't keep ripping through. Moving things along is "Creatures of Habit", another true show-stopper with more of the brilliant riffing and drumming, the latter well-executed by Daniel Furnari. An incredible blend of light and heavy is utilized so smoothly. Steinhauser and Hails both perform cleans and screams to double up the vocal intensity, made even more ultimate by a bit spoken vocals. I'm also astonished by the versatile guitars performed by Rick Schneider and Ryan Siew, the latter I wish I could've heard more of if not for his passing. RIP
"Above My Head" is another song with some pretty timeless greatness. A light clean songs follows that is "Martyr (Waves)". It starts with some beautiful cleans and melodies to fit the atmospheric soundscape, though there's still a bit of the screamed vocals. This is worth introducing any non-metal friends to the genre. Crashing through again is the deep "All of This is Fleeting". Twisting things up well is an ultra-heavy breakdown after those frantic verses and dramatic chorus. Finally, the metalcore power of "The Descent" hits you like a bullet-train. F***ING INCREDIBLE!!! It's moments like the last third of the track that makes you wonder why this band isn't so highly popular.
I believe The Death of Me can certainly hit metalcore fans in waves of excitement. Polaris continue breaking down the walls and one of the best-growing metalcore bands out there. For their incredible talent shaking the world, I am proud of those guys!
Favorites: "Pray for Rain", "Masochist", "Landmine", "Creatures of Habit", "The Descent"
Genres: Metalcore
Format: Album
Year: 2020
The passing of Polaris lead guitarist Ryan Siew was the tragic loss of a young talented lad, and I wanted to make sure the legacy of his work carries on. So it's time for me to look back at his amazing work, leading up to the band's latest album and his final one that is the October Revolution feature release. RIP Ryan Siew...
Going back to their debut, The Mortal Coil is their first full-length album after two EPs, Dichotomy and The Guilt & The Grief. This Sydney-based band can really shine in the Australian metalcore scene along with Northlane, In Hearts Wake, and The Amity Affliction, although they have more in common with Northlane's sound with their technical metalcore style. The Mortal Coil has opened up a new dimension! One that covers the hardcore side of While She Sleeps and the technicality of Periphery.
Kicking off the album is "Lucid", a solid tech-metalcore single with a sweet balanced blend of breakdowns and solos. Next track "The Remedy" is less technical, more focused on hooks of pride. That one's a highlight for its superb contrast between bassist Jake Steinhauser's clean singing and frontman Jamie Hails' unclean shouts. "Relapse" starts with Periphery-like intro riffing and carries on in a good pace. Brilliant standout "Consume" is pure technical metalcore throughout the song. It's an incredible highlight with the best of Ryan's guitar leads. He and rhythm guitarist Rick Schneider put their work out in sharp delivery that barely any other band could.
Next track "Frailty" is another essential track for metalcore fans, especially in the riffing and breakdowns. Jake Steinhauser makes his own attempt at unclean vocals alongside his usual cleans. With lots of intense energy, many Polaris fans would love to hear the band perform this live. "In Somnus Veritas" can be considered the album's intermission, a short slow track that shows the band's atmospheric side. "Dusk to Day" has Jamie Hails performing his own clean singing, but his growls are still around.
"Casualty" brings back the earlier heaviness. It's another masterpiece of a song that blasts away those preceding two slow tracks. While there's a lot of that tech-metalcore sound going on, they haven't stopped performing the more atmospheric sections. "The Slow Decay" has more standard metalcore. It first started off as a filler track for me at first listen, but has grown on me since. Following this is "Crooked Path", taking on more of their earlier heaviness as another smashing tech-metalcore hit with a clean chorus to sing along to. "Sonder" is a more experimental progressive closing track. It builds up gradually to a massive climax that makes you want to listen to the album again.
The Mortal Coil is a killer start of the band's album trio. Polaris has really been shaping up the Australian metalcore scene. And this incredible glory hasn't stopped there, as their later albums continue to display their destined greatness!
Favorites: "The Remedy", "Consume", "Frailty", "Casualty", "Crooked Path", "Sonder"
Genres: Metalcore
Format: Album
Year: 2017
After reviewing the most well-known Evanescence album Fallen (well-known for both me and the world), I've decided to skip ahead to their recent album The Bitter Truth. After all, this band wouldn't have been there without this album reaching a sufficient amount of alternative metal votes (Thanks for adding them, Ben!). I also wouldn't have heard beyond this band's singles if it wasn't for my alt-rock/metal-loving brother. I'm glad to still have him around...
Especially since two of the band members have suffered family tragedy. Vocalist Amy Lee's brother Robby passed from epileptic complications (her second fallen sibling, 30 years after Bonnie), and guitarists Tim McCord's stepdaughter Alyssa died by suicide. Despite this dark agony, their new album let them let it out in shards of heavy hope.
"Artifact/The Turn" opens the album with ethereal electronic ambience with Lee's angelic singing before you get your soul sucked into the action of the next track... "Broken Pieces Shine" thunders in with the band's resurrected rock sound. One of the best anthems here to delight fans with guitar theatrics! Lee's vocal talent shines again in "The Game is Over". Though it would get lost later in the album. "Yeah Right" has too much of the melodic electropop from Goldfrapp. Will I really enjoy that song? Yeah right!
"Feeding The Dark" has some worthy harmonic vocals. "Wasted on You" perfect adds into Lee's vocal agility. "Better Without You" starts off with a soft synthesized music box before an industrial earthquake. "Use My Voice" was inspired by the Stanford sexual assault cases and trial, and is the ultimate anthem in fighting back against those atrocities of the world. What makes it even more of an anthem is the amount of female vocalists singing in the background; Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation), Taylor Momsen (The Pretty Reckless), Lzzy Hale (Halestorm), and Lindsey Sterling.
Mechanical drumming and riffing allows you to "Take Cover" for a song that would fit well in one of the Terminator movies, leading up to a climax of calamity. The beginning of "Far From Heaven" is like Within Temptation gone Tears for Fears, with the piano and soft operatic singing. "Part of Me" brings back the strength. Same with "Blind Belief", concluding the album with a lookback at the band's heavier origins.
Evanescence returned with the first original album in nearly a decade, The Bitter Truth, redeeming their earlier heaviness. And you can find a lot more in the deluxe edition box set. The Bitter Truth is out there....
Favorites: "Broken Pieces Shine", "The Game is Over", "Wasted on You", "Use My Voice", "Take Cover", "Blind Belief"
Genres: Alternative Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2021
Evanescence returned after a 6-year hiatus...and THIS is the thanks fans got for waiting?! It is an unnecessary stripped-down remix album of their greatest and not-so-great hits! The rock/metal clothing has been stripped, leaving just naked orchestra and EDM synths. No drums or guitar of any kind!
The only tracks I even remotely like are the two new songs (not including interludes). "Hi-Lo" has amazing violin courtesy of dubstep violinist Lindsey Sterling, who would make an amazing vocal appearance in the next album. "Imperfection" adds a bit more of the EDM and hip-hop music into the mix. So in summary, those two tracks mark the decent separate edges of a horrendously orchestrated album.
Synthesis is awful for the most part, but a bit of quality is redeemed by Amy Lee's crystalline singing. While the classical elements sound cinematic, there's just too much of them here. Honestly, their greatest hits' remakes shouldn't sound too much like TSFH nor go the Linkin Park's "Recharged" route. Luckily the heaviness would reign again later....
Favorites (only songs I really like): "Hi-Lo", "Imperfection"
Genres: Non-Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2017
"Hello, hello, remember me? I'm everything you can't control." Uh, yeah, hello, Amy Lee. Listen, did you really have to move away from your heavier sound for success? You were practically in pop territory then! And the name of rock was being soiled by pop artists having a rock makeover without playing that genre, like Lady Gaga in the VMA's.
Evanescence's self-titled 3rd album was released around the time when my brother was listening to these kinds of bands and I, having had it with that radio pop sh*t, wanted to dive into the rock zone for the first time, which has lead to where I am over a decade later. While not reaching the heights they had with Fallen, their goth/alt-rock/metal has still been around. This album loses a good amount of heaviness for a bit of pop, but keeps the guitars, strings, and vocals to sweep the American radio nation.
The beginning of the album pleases me with "What You Want", riding through bulldozing heavy riffing. There's a bit of mystical influence from Within Temptation at that time in "Made of Stone", with some sarcastic lines like "Speak your mind, like I care." Next up, "The Change" adds beautiful piano and strings to the heavy riffing that keeps up the direct hard rock guitarwork. "My Heart Is Broken" starts with soft piano which then ascends into a fire-stomper of guitars and drums. Lee sings like a mighty siren to make the album slightly more interesting, though some later songs might make it less...
"The Other Side" starts the side were the quality goes downhill. Sure, the heavy riffing is cool, but the vocal rhythm is way off. This is Evanescence's "Lying From You" (sounds a bit like that song too). Guitars chainsaw their way through the piano-powered "Erase This", as the vocal drama stirs up another favorite from this album. "Lost In Paradise" is a romantic-sounding gorgeous ballad. Lee's vocals awaken as she sings her regrets and apology for losing contact with an earlier loved one. This could also be directed to the fans who had to go through torturous anticipation. "Sick" has some lazy melody, but there is a tight chorus of anthemic chanting.
"End Of The Dream" sounds like they're trying so hard to shove the orchestra out of the front stage, but it messes up the otherwise thick metal guitar. Sonic synth and beat soars through the excellent highlight "Oceans" with clear guitar hooks. Another attempt at prettiness goes off-rails in "Never Go Back" where the otherwise great guitar and bass gets f***ed up by clumsy piano. Closing track "Swimming Home" adds some gloomy harp played by Lee, but the rest of the instrumentation is so weak and odd.
Yeah, Evanescence's self-titled album does get battered quite a bit, but I know the band has the ability to resist the gateway into "Barbie Girl"-style dance-pop. They preferred to stay in the rock zone with this half-lively half-dreaded album and would carry the torch into later material, with the exception of an orchestral twist after another long gap....
Favorites: "What You Want", "Made of Stone", "My Heart Is Broken", "Erase This", "Lost In Paradise", "Oceans"
Genres: Non-Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2011
Amy Lee is a serene vocalist who has given "Southern Gothic" a whole new meaning. Instead of that "dark country" sh*t, she has added her goth piano/vocal dreams into an alt-metal band with slight industrial/hip-hop elements, for you to feel anywhere but home. Their platinum-hitting debut Fallen has pleased many rock fans, but the band had almost fallen apart themselves. Her songwriting partner/guitarist Ben Moody left, his replacement Terry Balsamo had a stroke, and there were management issues.
Nonetheless, then-24-year-old Lee and co. continued to rise and put the energy from the insanity into the slightly better The Open Door, in which the deeper emotion earns the band more global accessibility. The rock-bashers and piano ballads of their earlier singles are still around to show this band is far more than a Hot Topic antique...
"Sweet Sacrifice" is a heavy lamenting anthem showing how much a breakup can feel like freedom ("It's true we're all a little insane, but it's so clear now that I'm unchained"). The addictive addiction-themed "Call Me When You're Sober" is quite a highlight, a near-sequel to the previous album's superior single "Bring Me to Life". Next track "Weight of the World" seems to be about breaking out of a tormentor's spell, "If you love me then let go of me". There's a bit of a Queensryche influence in piano-powered "Lithium".
The experimental-ish "Cloud Nine" tells another tale of a girl breaking up with a dude. The scenario gets crazier in "Snow White Queen", when the dude resorts in predatory instincts, with the song sounding like Tori Amos gone hard rock (don't point out her cover of Slayer's "Raining Blood", that's not what that style is). Lee ends up breaking down emotionally in "Lacrymosa", or at least that's how it sounds, with her sobbing-like singing over grand piano and Lacrimosa-like orchestration. A bit of the gothic vibe from some of My Chemical Romance's ballads at that time bleeds into "Like You". She lets her vocals run loose a bit in "Lose Control".
The only track I have an issue with is "The Only One", in which the industrial background kind of messes up the piano/vocal foreground. "Your Star" is way more interesting, beginning with piano and lyrics calling out for the Lord Himself before evolving into a Seether-esque rocker. All that I'm waiting for throughout the album is "All That I'm Living For", where all the elements are combined into something beautiful. The soft "Good Enough" begins in hopeless darkness then progresses into a cathartic yet uplifting ballad.
Amy Lee is indeed a game-changing vocalist whose voice marks a unique milestone in alt-metal. You know how there are some film franchises that have a slightly better sequel to the first part that's still good? This is that! The Open Door is the better sequel for me....
Favorites: "Sweet Sacrifice", "Call Me When You're Sober", "Lithium", "Lacrymosa", "Your Star", "All That I'm Living For"
Genres: Alternative Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2006
Evanescence is another one of those alt-rock/metal bands my brother listens to and I used to as well, this one with an innovative idea of gorgeous female vocals leveling up the emotion factor in the lyrics. After Metallica's reign of thrash metal and Pantera's reign of groove metal, nu metal became the late 90s/early 2000s rage with bands such as Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Linkin Park rising in success, much to the dismay of metal elitists. However, one band has really changed the game...
This band, Evanescence has added some fresh ideas that bring their style closer to nu metal but replaced almost all of the rapping with goth-rock/post-punk influences, adding diversity as interesting as when Faith No More pioneered funk metal and when Rage Against the Machine developed rap metal. Nu metal usually stirs up negative-to-mixed reception, but what makes Evanescence's debut Fallen slightly more interesting and tolerable is, no overused clichés! And just in time for the beginning of that genre's downfall, with this album adding a last bit of hope there.
I love the first track "Going Under"! While it lacks a bit of potential, it is made up for the strong heavy instrumentation and Amy Lee's massive singing. Pretty much everyone knows this next track, "Bring Me to Life", and how would they never? It's a very memorable standout, resembling Linkin Park's nu metal style, especially the background rap-ish shouts of Paul McCoy of 12 Stones that remind some of Mike Shinoda. Some might say it's about God, but Evanescence wanted to stay away from the Christian label. And if you watch the Daredevil film from that year, you know the source of its popularity boost. Gothic vocal harmonies appear in "Everybody's Fool". The song is basically about how celebrities keep sexualizing themselves for the sake of success, something that has bothered Amy Lee, especially when a little sister of her was badly influenced. An interesting lyrical message in another killer highlight. "My Immortal" is the second-most popular single from this album and its first symphonic ballad. Lee and her writing partner/ex-member Ben Moody wrote it based on a ghost scenario about a spirit who wouldn't leave until you wish it away. A beautiful somber lookback at lost loved ones.
"Haunted" is quite strange, twisted the ghost scenario into a horror story when the spirit (a male) traps a girl in a haunted mansion for a decade. "Tourniquet" sounds closer to post-grunge. It's the only song in the album to actually be Christian, having originally been written by then-touring drummer Rocky Gray for Christian death metallers Soul Embraced. The tourniquet in the story is God, and the narrator of the story pleads for the chance to repent the attempted sin of suicide, questioning Heaven and what's required to join there. NO, that song isn't about drug abuse, contrary to popular belief. "Imaginary" is a POWER ballad with symphonics that clearly detail an imaginary daydream land to escape from the tormenting reality. Another beautiful highlight! "Taking Over Me" has the nu metal/post-grunge sound my brother likes, though it doesn't have the important impact despite h*lla catchy lyrics, fitting the music as memories of Lee's fallen sister Bonnie consume her.
"Hello" explores that concept in darker emotional depths. Bonnie was another one of Amy's sisters, this one having passed away from an unknown severe disease at age 3. The lyrics describe the 5 stages of grief pretty well for that song's scenario. "My Last Breath" continues the post-grunge-like sound, and in a story written in memory of the 9/11 victims, a girl who was struck in the attack confesses to her crush her love for him before dying in his arms. "Whisper" adds creepy symphonics to the nu metal/post-grunge sound that made my brother like that song. The lyrics have some religious vibes warning you to resist evil and save yourself from danger. Later pressings include the single version of "My Immortal" as a bonus track where the band joins in a for a quick guitar solo and the final chorus. I love that version much better!
In the end, Fallen marks a game-changing album almost as good as Linkin Park's Meteora from the same year. If you're looking for alt/nu-metal/post-grunge with gothic tendencies replacing all of that rap-crap, this one's for you, but not for the metal purists. Here's to the Fallen (not the clan)....
Favorites: "Going Under", "Bring Me to Life", "Everybody's Fool", "Imaginary", "Hello", "My Immortal" (single version with band)
Genres: Alternative Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2003
The most popular Andorran metal band is back with their first album in 5 years, Metanoia! It has been quite that long between new albums, but I think one of the least surprising reasons for that gap would be COVID. Then again, they've managed to re-record their debut Truth Inside the Shades in 2020. Anyway, things can be a bit bumpy when starting anew for this album, but it's still a spiritual journey to transcend through...
For this brand-new Persefone album, expect 10 songs (8 if you consider the final 3-part epic as one song) that are epic technical compositions, all with dynamics stories to tell. Some more of the epic extreme metal sound awaits!
Beginning the journey is the opening title intro. Dramatic piano plays while Einar Solberg (Leprous) adds intensity with his vocals that, along with the background strings, give the opener a Broadway kind of vibe. Then a synth transition leads to "Katabasis", the first real metal song of the album, hammering through riffs, bass, and drums in a flash. This eclectic mix of heavy darkness and melodic light sets the album's complex tone. "Architecture of the I" begins with bass/keyboard elegance before an aggressively speedy rollercoaster of emotion. The savageness never bores me at all with the dark vibe helped out by the hardcore screams of lead vocalist Marc Martins. The percussion often reaching hyperblast levels up the chaotic massacre.
"Leap of Faith" is a 5-minute interlude that doesn't really fit the scene so far but acts as a decent bridge. "Aware of Being Watched" is a stronger improvement, featuring serene chanting from Merethe Soltvedt from Two Steps From Hell. In fact, her vocals and the strings really add a TSFH kind of vibe. The first single, "Merkabah" is the right choice for all those pattern structures to decipher. The near-end breakdown is more straight than everything else. Keyboardist/clean vocalist sings a sincerely catchy chorus.
"Consciousness Pt. 3" is the 11-minute continuation of the "Consciousness" suite from Spiritual Migration, and the second half is one of the greatest moments of the album! Surpassed only by the 15-minute trilogy suite, "Anabasis"! "Pt. 1" begins with calm piano and synth effects. Then "Pt. 2" is the heavier storm, with the second half of that part being the strongest, complete with soloing by Steffen Kummerer and Angel Vivaldi, and more female vocals from Merethe Soltvedt. An epic collaboration! "Pt. 3" ends it all appropriately with beautiful piano and chanting vocals to end things peacefully. The cinematic vibe still shines before the curtain descends.
This innovative imagery from these Andorran metal masters is for those who are up for multiple rounds to gain full-on vision appreciation. I'm glad to finally have some intricate pleasure despite some parts of the interludes lowering down the quality. Fans of Leprous, Enslaved, and Opeth should get ready for this soul-guiding voyage!
Favorites: "Architecture of the I", "Aware of Being Watched", "Merkabah", "Consciousness Pt. 3", "Anabasis" (full suite)
Genres: Progressive Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2022
Metal has gotten a bad rep for its association with Satanism that has gotten people thinking all metal is satanic, just from hearing that kind of theme in extreme genres like death/thrash/black metal. However, metalcore is highly different there, take some of that extremeness and mixing it with hardcore, with lyrics of revolution. Code Orange can be metalcore but it's a lot more. It's kind of a diverse mix of thrashcore, sludgecore, industrial metalcore, grunge-y screamo, and nu metalcore, all in a new powerful cauldron!
"[deeperthanbefore]" is a suitable electronic intro for how deep the band is gonna get in diversity. The climatic start of the action, "Swallowing the Rabbit Whole" is awesome! One funky section has an average one time change per second in 7 seconds! Toppling over slightly in the intricacy is "In Fear", but it's an anthemic tune. "You and You Alone" moves through the screaming metalcore madness alongside a withering chorus ("You play your part, you know your role") for teens to yell along to, rebelling against the electronic uprising with complex poetry. Frontwoman/guitarist Reba Meyers sings her beautiful jaded voice in "Who I Am" ("You’re marigold and I’m fluoride").
"Cold Metal Place" is what I describe this metallic hardcore chaos. "Sulfur Surrounding" would have your heart breaking out of your ribcage in emotional balladry. Also good and easy is "The Easy Way". Then "Erasure Scan" is the closest we have to Emmure with Erasure synths. There's more of the heavy angle in "Last Ones Left".
Anthemic choruses add balance to the intense "Autumn And Carbine". The hate-fueled "Back Inside the Glass" has the same kind of balance. "A Sliver" shows that Gojira is not the only band in the world that can mix melodic ambience with extreme heavy matter so easily. The title track sounds almost as poppy as Nine Inch Nails. Still it's quite a satisfying ending to this futuristic adventure.
Technical industrial metalcore has never reached that high amount of immediate brilliance before, thus further proving Code Orange's omnipresent contribution to the recent metalcore scene. They indeed carry a stylistic stash of diverse styles without a limit!
Favorites: "Swallowing the Rabbit Whole", "You and You Alone", "Cold Metal Place", "Sulfur Surrounding", "Last Ones Left", "Autumn And Carbine", "A Sliver"
Genres: Industrial Metal Metalcore
Format: Album
Year: 2020
A lot can happen in 13 years. New stories and trends can grow old, technology would upgrade and render earlier versions obsolete, and Middle-Eastern wars are still going on. People thought 10,000 Days was Tool's last album, but after 13 years (from 2006 to 2019, same as Disillusion's long gap between albums), Tool has made their return with the near-CD-limit 80-minute Fear Inoculum, reliving the band's dream much better than before!
Tool can be consider "The Thinker" of metal, pondering through the contradictions the band would have to go through. Now they're more refined with almost every track being an impressive over 10 minutes long.
The opening title track slowly builds layers of instrumentation and vocals before reaching its high point at 4 minutes with an impressive guitar solo. And they still continue from there! At 10 minutes, it surpasses David Bowie's "Blackstar" as the longest Billboard-hitting track. I bet they can handle the time signature-changing intensity well. Keeping up the same fashion is "Pneuma".
"Invincible" is where lead vocalist Maynard James Keenan really thinks about his personal business and probably about the band, "Long in tooth and soul, longing for another win, lurch into a fray, weapon out and belly in, warrior - struggling - to remain - consequential". "Descending" starts ambient before progressiveness descends into you again.
"Culling Voices" are what you hear sung in another progressive metal symphony. "Chocolate Chip Trip" is an experimental synth interlude with a bit of drumming, so it's Danny Carey's solo track. There are actually a few more interludes scattered around in the digital version. "7empest" is the band's longest track to date at nearly 16 minutes. Maynard James Keenan continues his vocal serenity while Danny Carey continues his complex rhythm. The guitars battle the vocals for loudness. So astonishing!
So how is Fear Inoculum like for the band compared to 13 years ago? Not a lot changed, other than a more progressive direction, so the future was not much to fear. The band was rising from the ashes to spread their message. Fear Inoculum is the kind of album that should be taken more seriously and appreciated!
Favorites: "Fear Inoculum", "Invincible", "7empest"
Genres: Progressive Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2019
Atheist is one of the first ever technical death metal bands and one of the very few that could induce some tasteful interest. Their 3rd album Elements was their last album before they split up for over a decade and is more experimental than many other memorable death metal albums.
Those different things include more jazz than heaviness. Kelly Shaefer's vocals are not as death-growly as other death metal bands, leaning more towards thrash. The rhythm section is on fire with booming bass and blasting drums. Elements tear down the walls of death metal and let in elements (couldn't resist the pun) of other genres, alongside the unorthodox intricacy of time signature changes, riffs, and structures.
"Green" is an eccentric catchy composition to jam out at home. "Water" continues the catchiness. "Samba Briza" is where the jazz instrumentation really shine, break through the limits of death metal and adding something death metal fans thought wasn't possible. What a standout! The waltz-paced "Air" rises from jazzy guitar and cymbal into a riff blizzard. Shaefer's impressive shrieking strike the music down into the snow. Rather than being catchy, the windy music catches the feeling and drags through the breeze. After a bit more fury comes some more commanding jazz.
Self-indulgent progression doesn't work for the rest of the interludes, starting with "Displacement". The semi-thrashy "Animal" adds a more deliberate state of tempo while in a dreamy flow of vocal echoes, harmonies, and bass, a decadent turn through Coroner's progressive thrash. "Mineral" begins mechanically drilling into mathy chaos that they might return with in their comeback album Jupiter. But this was 1993, the year when death metal was adding gothic beauty, think My Dying Bride and Edge of Sanity, whereas Atheist's angelic riffs and bass add their own sexy near-perfection. Searing like the element, "Fire" is probably the best song here, tossing jazz embers into metal-fused inferno, the way that element represents.
"Fractal Point" is another one of the fractured interludes. There's atmosphere added to the relentless "Earth". The last interlude "See You Again" is something I wish to never hear again, like a couple pop songs with that title. However, the title track makes fascinating use of the last 6 minutes. All of the elements, both literal and metaphorical, are combined to summarize their sound entirely.
Elements is an underrated forgotten part of the 90s death metal scene. I've lost appreciation for all of death metal nearly a year before this review, but anyone enjoys original technical death metal should give this a listen to blow their mind!
Favorites: "Samba Briza", "Air", "Animal", "Mineral", "Fire", "Elements"
Genres: Death Metal Progressive Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1993
And now here we are at the second part of these two albums I consider one. You might disagree with me on what I think there, but I'll take the criticism. Hell Songs, released 3 years after the first part/album Canada songs, has more singing while keeping the screaming. This is the better album compared to Canada Songs. Hell Songs continues the experimental mathematical hardcore in a more melodic light. I hope for more of that kind of experimentation in future bands that are still chaotic.
The sun shines with droning guitars and thick drums in "Daughters Spelled Wrong". Then "Fiery" is pretty much Satan's way to get down and dance. It ends wonderfully with a naked acapella line, "this is how you go burning there as quiet as a mouse". Next song "Recorded Inside a Pyramid" does sound like what the title suggests, but it's still great.
"X-Ray" is more extreme and shorter at under one minute, just like some of the songs from their debut. The highlight "Feisty Snake Woman" has a Papier-Mache statue that crumbles down when scissors cut through, causing complete chaos. "Providence by Gaslight" continues the chaos but ends with strings and horns. "Love is a disgusting thing", according to the chant in the hyper "Hyperventilationsystem" that would keep you away from sleeping.
"Crotch Buffet" crouches down, hides, then attacks, repeating that cycle throughout that song. The long 6-minute "Cheers Pricks" has one of the most catchy bass loops I've heard. "The F*** Whisperer" ends the album in both a bang and a whimper, the whimper part being the sudden fadeout after all that action.
Man, the extremeness pumps me up good. Some people may be deterred, but I ain't! With this album, I've connected the tie between me and the music from this band, which would be distant unreachable for some people. Any music listeners should give this album a listen and make it public for the masses to hear. If people aren't satisfied, then scr*w what they think! I'll follow the opinions about people who like this music as much as I do. My feelings shall be justified for this erratic offering of mathematical chaos!
Favorites: "Fiery", "X-Ray", "Feisty Snake Woman", "Hyperventilationsystem", "Cheers Pricks"
Genres: Metalcore
Format: Album
Year: 2006
I challenged myself to dive into the two metal albums from grind/mathcore band Daughters, and because of the highly short length of both albums, especially the debut, they almost seem like one album split in two. So that's what I'm gonna do with this review, make one split into two, one half per each album, just like what I did with Between the Buried and Me's Automata albums (before those reviews got deleted when I moved away from that band). People have talked about Daughters when they first entered the grindcore scene, and that was because of the usual traits. There are only 10 songs, ranging from 30 seconds to two minutes, in a total of 11 minutes, same length as a cartoon episode segment. Like much of grind-mathcore, there's mind-blowing drumming, high screechy vocals, short songs, time/tempo changes, and unique guitar talent.
Actually, the guitar talent is unusual to grindcore, without listening to without ever being standard. The guitarists can tap their fingers on glass and then scratch it hard and loud. Such an interesting sound! Nothing overpowers anything too painfully, and that's good because grindcore is a b***h to listen to in other bands. This is something I didn't ever think would be possible in grindcore, actual listenable guitar. As usual, I'm going to do my one-by-one track analysis because of how good the songs are, and if you thought I would bore you by talking so long about them, you would be wrong! It's gonna be a speed-run, just like this album. OK, ready, set, F***ING GO!!!
"Fur Beach" is a h*lla fast track. So is "Jones From Indiana". Then "I Slept with the Daughters and All I Got Was This Lousy Song Written About Me" is not a lousy song at all, and I didn't have to sleep with this band. "And Then The C.H.U.D.S. Came" to kick my a**.
"Mike Morowitz, the Fantasy F***" is a f***ing suitable break from the melodic fantasy metal I needed to a break from. "Nurse, Would You Please Prep The Patient For Sexual Doctor" is a song I'm already prepped for, thanks to my 4 years of listening to mathcore (that started with The Dillinger Escape Plan). "I Don't Give a Sh*t About Wood, I'm Not a Chemist", well, I don't give a sh*t what people think of this music, this works for me.
"Pants, Meet Sh*t" is kind of a sh*tty mess, but the next two songs would make up for that. "D*mn Those Blood Suckers And Their Good Qualities" has d*mn good quality. Finally, "The Ghost with the Most" has the most of their sound and is easily the best of the album.
This is mind-blowing grind-mathcore that I recommend to fans of the style. You won't regret these 11 minutes! Of course, the next album is twice as long. To be continued....
Favorites: "Fur Beach", "I Slept with the Daughters and All I Got Was This Lousy Song Written About Me", "And Then The C.H.U.D.S. Came", "Nurse, Would You Please Prep The Patient For Sexual Doctor", "The Ghost with the Most"
Genres: Metalcore
Format: Album
Year: 2003
Previously, on Cult of Luna's journey, they've released a perfect set of releases in the past few years. After a collaboration album Mariner (with Julie Christmas), they made a double album A Dawn to Fear, and then a single EP half that album's length (The Raging River). Would they continue their perfect streak here?
These Swedish post-sludge metal legends continue their unique 21st century road. Like I said, their previous 3 album's mark their perfect streak, with even The Raging River reaching an inspiring force for a 40-minute EP, after the massive 80-minute A Dawn to Fear. The Long Road North continues that streak and, according to vocalist/guitarist Johannes Persson, is the last part of this new era. Though I'm sure they would be more depending on the album's success, which I think is at a high point of likeliness.
Cult of Luna already knows how to open an album like this with "Cold Burn", a powerful track that moves forward through 10 minutes fast in a fun way. And by fun, I mean filled with dynamic crushing atmosphere, a crucial part of their post-metal to reward listeners! "The Silver Arc" continues the riff-rumble with some delicate subtlety. "Beyond I" is the first of 3 interludes here, with stunning vocals by Mariam Wallentin. Another thing making the album remarkable is, after every two tracks of crushing metal, a soft interlude comes along. Wallentin's haunting vocal melodies work well over keyboard textures.
The highlight "An Offering to the Wild" carries the strong atmosphere back into the sludgy heaviness, with additional instrumentation by Colin Stetson, best known for his film soundtracks including Hereditary. This cinematic composition expands into chaotic cacophony by the end of its 13-minute length. "Into the Night" is where the band evokes unforgiving nature in feared reverence. "Full Moon" extends the nature but this time in the cold desolation of the unknown. Quite an immersive element!
The quality stays strong in the title track, keeping up the album's dynamic journey. "Blood Upon Stone", is the apocalyptic climax as the two guitarists from the band Phoenix join in, Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz. Then the listeners can relax for the "Beyond II" outro, again with Stenson, showing that the band's quest is again achieved.
The Long Road North continues the band's triumphant reign. This 70-minute album keeps you in attention, and it's a long road you feel like taking again and again. Cult of Luna continues their path with an album that has hopefully made sure that this is not the end of their road!
Favorites: "Cold Burn", "An Offering to the Wild", "Into the Night", "The Long Road North", "Blood Upon Stone"
Genres: Sludge Metal Post-Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2022
Long ago, Underoath were once an underground dark extreme progressive metalcore band, then they simplified their sound to just post-hardcore with a couple albums making their return to a more mainstream while still heavy and cathartic metalcore. After that lengthy part of their career, the band went on hiatus for a few years before welcoming themselves back with an album of unwelcome stylistic changes, 2018's Erase Me. They regained their heavy crown with their newest modern album Voyeurist!
Underoath continues to evolve in progressive development, while being mindful of their past sounds. Despite some sparked debate about that, the band knows how to push the envelope in a healthy kind of way. Voyeurist is an intriguing album worth constant listening.
"Damned Excuses" kick-starts the raw metalcore right there with furious energy. After that heavy groove impact, "Hallelujah" has more refined melody. The visceral vocals edge on emotion. The guitars help with the reverbed atmosphere. "I’m Pretty Sure I’m Out of Luck and Have No Friends" begins with an unanswered 9-1-1 call over an atmospheric post-rock intro. There isn't any building of pace until the heaviness shines in literally the last minute, as the band's rules continue to be rewritten. Also rewriting the band's rules is the stunning "Cycle" in which the heavy heat wastes no time. There's heavy riffing, thunderous drumming, breakdown impact, and even a scream-rapping bridge by Ghostemane, all that to mash your eardrums like potatoes. RESET THE CYCLE!!!
"Thorn" is another melodic return to the post-hardcore basics of bands like Circa Survive and I See Stars in flowing emotion. It's a special delicate song to make a nice break from the heavier metalcore anthems. "(No Oasis)" is an ethereal interlude/ballad as part of the band's inspirational search. It's basically haunting dark jazz with gentle drums and singing from Gillespie. This kind of organic vibe would leave you determined for the rest. "Take a Breath" is another unique standout, bashing through one of the most unique songs by the band. "We’re All Gonna Die" follows a similar path. "Numb" kicks up the electronic course with adorned background synths.
The closing finale "Pneumonia" shall have its own paragraph. It is the band's first 7-minute epic since the one at the end of Define the Great Line (still not as long as any of the songs from Cries of the Past). Basically it's brooding drone/post-metal that really emphasizes the first part of the post-hardcore name. Things start to build up to a final phenomenal climax. All in just that last minute, you hear more energy exploding than a supernova before it's all over. It's Underoath's "Nighttime Disguise"!
Voyeurist is not the most perfect Underoath album, but it has the most ambitious diversity. You can never underestimate how much this defines the band's brand-new era, once again keep their reign as one of the most prolific modern metalcore/post-hardcore bands. Some flaws aside, this work of art deserves the greatest appreciation!
Favorites: "Damned Excuses", "Cycle", "Thorn", "Take a Breath", "Pneumonia"
Genres: Metalcore
Format: Album
Year: 2022
Before this album, They’re Only Chasing Safety was Underoath's black sheep sh*t for the metalheads who wanted to hear their heavier material. They would gradually redeem their heaviness, album by album, before reaching the explosive perfection of Ø (Disambiguation), a different dark chapter. They've really unleashed the fury that their metalcore sound should've had, and it's the only album without key member Aaron Gillespie, which might explain some. It was long thought to be their final form due to their breakup, but then they've reunited. However, while their comeback album was a bittersweet return, it's more emphasized on the bitter...
Erase Me really let down metalheads' hopes. You might blame Gillespie and his teen-boy-like clean voice, but I don't think it's totally his fault. His vocals and drumming have improved since the past, and he still has his talent from Lost in the Sound of Separation. Underoath was trying to catch up with the metal scene at the time, but ultimately chose to turn their back on the scene. Their blazing dissonant metalcore of crushing riff passion was thrown away for a more drastic and worse changing of times. Whatever happened to their post-hardcore ideas? Y'know, their balances of screams and cleans, and harmonies and rhythms, all in a metallic cauldron. They're pushed aside for hardcore-less alternative rock with the poppy remnants of They’re Only Chasing Safety resurrected.
If you see any songs missing from my track-to-track analysis, it's because they're pretty bad. I definitely didn't wanna have to start badly with mild choruses of "Rapture". The first good track here, "On My Teeth" adds near-heavy riffing into the atmosphere, along with the band's first ever swearing (they dumped their Christian beliefs during their reformation). "Wake Me" is not something for you metal listeners to like. "Bloodlust" is catchy, but they've barely put any effort there.
Another song "Sink With You" barely goes anywhere. Enough with those poor aspects, let's skip to "Hold Your Breath", one of the very few good tracks here, sounding much better than all those other weak tracks. You'll never expect me to like "No Frame" that is a complete waste of time, especially in the last 30 seconds. I'm really not sure what the band was thinking with all these songs with barely any vision. At this point, I'm giving up on this analysis, which is convenient because the album's last and the one with the lowest b*lls for the band is "I Gave Up". Yep, that's what I'm doing.
Really, I'm not sure which direction Underoath wanted to take. Like I said, they've lost their Christianity, and while that's a big step to change their identity, I think they've really changed that, and then some. Erase Me is more of an alternative rock album with barely any traces of post-hardcore, let alone metalcore. Good production, just ineffective writing. Those heavy influences and Chamberlain's vocal development seemed abandoned, but their next recent album would show what they could do to make amends....
Favorites (only songs I like from this album): "On My Teeth", "Hold Your Breath"
Genres: Non-Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2018
It wasn't until over 4 years ago when I started growing up to metalcore. I was discovering metal way more than the rest of my family, bands like Trivium and Bullet for My Valentine, and I probably would've also gotten into one of my brother's favorite bands Avenged Sevenfold if they didn't dump their metalcore roots. All these bands were discovered via music videos on TV a few years before I started listening to metalcore, and another band from there is Underoath, whose video I'll tell you about later.
Well, back then, my taste in power metal bands such as Blind Guardian was still dominant, along with progressive metal which I still enjoy to this day with bands like Opeth, and maybe one day I can even get into listen to Amorphis. I no longer enjoy those power metal bands as much as I used to, and that was my great chance to switch to the metalcore of Trivium and Underoath. The latter's 5th album, Define the Great Line, is a good example of the splendor of post-hardcore/metalcore (YES, metalcore! I made a Hall entry to get this album into the genre). There is criticism for being far more hardcore than their early albums, and while that's kind of true, it should be worth some time.
Yeah, the post-hardcore issues from their previous album are still around, especially in the first 5 songs, so f*** that. The interlude "Sálmarnir" itself is pointless for a different reason, this being monotonous minimalism for under 3 minutes. That should not exist at all! "Returning Empty Handed" is where they really return to hardcore metal riffing, now more in common with the metalcore scene than the extreme underground. However, "Casting Such a Thin Shadow" in less sincere and more unnecessarily draggy.
"Moving for the Sake of Motion" is probably the biggest highlight of the album, with sick riffing and atmosphere to enjoy! Spencer Chamberlain grieves over his relatable faults. "Writing on the Walls" is the second-best of the album. That's the music video I found on TV a few years before getting interested in this band, and it still rules! The vocals are really delivered well. "Everyone Looks So Good from Here" doesn't look too good, but a decent banger before the finale. "To Whom It May Concern" is a much better 7-minute epic, where atmosphere twists from heavy to smooth for an emotional atmosphere to enjoy, summing up the lyrical themes greatly for a new hope.
I don't think Define the Great Line would be a must-have for metalheads like myself, but at the same time, some songs might be good for the hardcore/metalcore within me. It's great that they brought back the metal, but some of the riffs aren't that attention-grabbing. Well, at least some positive moments still show the band's greatness....
Favorites (only songs I like from this album): "Returning Empty Handed", "Moving for the Sake of Motion", "Writing on the Walls", "To Whom It May Concern"
Genres: Non-Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2006
There are some people who say that Underoath is better off with Dallas Taylor in the band, about 3 years before this album. However, with their 4th album They're Only Chasing Safety, they've cooled down into a whole different style, gaining popularity in the airwaves, thanks and no thanks to their new unclean vocalist Spencer Chamberlain.
I have a lot of room to breathe, but probably not for soft sh*t like this. They've wimped out into screamo in 2004. No f***ing metal at all! At least in their previous album The Changing of Times, they continued their earlier metal influences, but here, it's ALMOST NOTHING, THOSE B****RDS!!! Anyway, let me just tone down my directed anger and come to a conclusive summary of what they are: pop-punk-screamo. That's it.
I'll just talk about a few songs, starting with "Young And Aspiring", which is actually pretty good and heavy, introducing Spencer Chamberlain's screams. There brief electronic elements, and finally a breakdown to transition to the next song. "A Boy Brushed Red Living in Black and White" have made attempts for both singers' vocals to soar, but they don't reach that kind of desire and end up out of range. Let's fast forward a few tracks to the more interesting "It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door" keeping up the electronic elements and slight heaviness, even at just mid-paced punky clouds with no metal fire.
"Down, Set, Go" tries to keep up the earlier vocal soaring technique, but it's just cringe-inducing with the vocals sounding auto-tuned. The guitars also seem to have artificial tunings, more than just drop D. Thank greatness synths are used sparsely and not as overly done as more popular bands back then. Let's skip ahead to the final track "Some Will Seek Forgiveness, Others Escape", which starts slightly out of place with the somber opening after the energy of earlier tracks, but the rest is nice.
With all that said, I wasn't too bored with this album. It's just that a few tracks stick with me while most others don't. As a metalhead, I'm unfamiliar with listening to full albums of pop-punk-screamo that barely have interesting songwriting. Anyway, they would get heavier in most subsequent albums, you'll see....
Favorites (only songs I like from this album): "Young And Aspiring", "It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door", "Some Will Seek Forgiveness, Others Escape"
Genres: Non-Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2004
Car Bomb, in my opinion, has made some of the most experimentally chaotic mathcore in the right way, and with their progressive/djent influences, it would be accurate to describe them as The Dillinger Escape Plan gone Meshuggah/Gojira. Mordial is their latest album and one of their best to showcase that sound in all its aggressive glory.
Mathcore and many other "core" genres you just can't take with a grain of salt. You have to let your ears embrace the assault that would leave you hungry for more of its golden violence. If you thought these mathcore Long Islanders have reached their pinnacle on Meta, Mordial successfully adds more of the crushing power and maintains their perfect streak. There's also a bit of Deftones-like alt-metal influences within the chaos.
Let's start with "Start"! This 45-second ambient synth intro could easily be the theme for the horror film. Any first-time mathcore listeners would get jump-scared anyway if not prepared for the 180-turn into intense chaos in "Fade Out". Yet there's that soft clean chorus to fit in with what's appealing to hardcore listeners these days. Still the metallic mathcore can warp faster than the DeLorean going 88mph. "Vague Skies" is an unforgiving sonic crusher. The breakdown in "Scattered Sprites" is more than just that, it's a total guitar meltdown before a dissonant yet melodic solo played on what remains of those guitars. "Dissect Yourself" is another perfect quantum-physical mathcore track that can shoot more powerful than planet-destroying laser beams! Think of this like Gaza, Gojira, and the more brutal Lamb of God all mixed in one cauldron.
"Xoxoy" continues the headbanging heaviness complete with another breakdown before a space-dreamy clean section in the middle. This record wouldn't be accessible without "Hela" is a basic mathy metalcore song that's isn't too bad. Good break from the unique heavy intensity while keeping a bit of it. "Blackened Battery" is also unforgiving with their time signature changes. This really displays their Metallica influences, with the title coming from two Metallica songs, and different sections paying tribute to "Blackened" in the most mathcore way possible. It's like cheese, crackers, and milk, a few separate things that make an awesome combination!
The title track starts a bit unusual with soft guitar that is almost a tribute to another classic thrash band Sepultura. Then it's back to the drum pounding business. There's even a clean break that has a bit of a dubstep vibe. The guitar breakdown sounds weird yet effective. The soloing would surely put Van Halen's "Eruption" to shame and futurize it. "Eyecide" displays wider influences including a black metal-like tremolo. The second-to-last and longest track of the album, "Antipatterns" ironically has its own pattern in the structure. It starts heavy again with a breakdown before building up and collapsing into a cinematic ending of operatic synth reverb. The heat begins to cool down... Until the finale, "Naked Fuse"! Even the chorus is heavy while not as chaotic as the rest. Once again it slowly builds up into a breakdown then gets heavier until a final buildup that abruptly ends with a brief heavy riff.
So this is another album that's intense, but is there anything different? Well, Car Bomb has leveled up a different sound in metal by adding a more chaotic sound for the guitars. You can barely even tell what's from the guitar sometimes. The confused first-time listeners would be wondering what the h*ll they went through, but it takes time and patience to fully grasp something that would surpass the bizarreness of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band from 50 years prior. It's certainly stronger than that! The tempo can slow down without ever going out of sync. Mordial is a 5-star head-twisting mathcore tornado, that's what it is!
Favorites: "Fade Out", "Scattered Sprites", "Dissect Yourself", "Blackened Battery", "Mordial", "Antipatterns"
Genres: Metalcore Progressive Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2019
One of the most remarkable bands from a brutal metal genre, Meta is one of the most exciting albums written by this band. The technical heaviness would surely please metalheads looking for that kind of aspect!
So, 2016 was the year when metal/hardcore bands like Norma Jean, TDEP, and Meshuggah were releasing new albums to please their respective fanbases, and it doesn't end there! Car Bomb, a band heavily influenced by and often compared to those other bands, would make their addition to that year with their third offering Meta. An awesome standout to this year for that metal/hardcore league!
Opening the album as heavy as some of TDEP and Meshuggah's albums, "From the Dust of This Planet" kickstarts the guitar onslaught morphed into colossal riffing as raw vocals thunder through. You can already hear the monolithic production within the buzzsaw guitars. There's also frantic drum pacing, and even some clean vocals for a couple choruses. "Secrets Within" continues the spiraling riffing with the different tempo changes placed neatly. Then it gets slow in the middle, stretching some of the guitar chords out while adding some complexity. Everything sounds perfect there in extreme heaviness as the bass cuts through the guitars. "Nonagon" is nothing too different.
The trippy "Gratitude" actually has a Deftones-like sound, where a verse drives through with clean vocals and jangly guitars, taking a sideways turn in direction. Then the next song "Constant Sleep" is more interesting. Complex patterns stretch long and soft before switching back to heavy and quick. With great dynamic depth, Car Bomb is already reaching unique territory with their sound. Up next, "The Oppressor" maintains the mathcore feel while heading back and forth to a ballad-like song. Joe Duplantier of Gojira makes another guest appearance, albeit with just clean vocals in those softer sections to set an excellent mood. Then near the end there's brutal immense sludge for a riff-powered climax. One of the most experimental tracks here! The relentless storm of "Black Blood" has wonderous insane chaos, especially that headbanger of a breakdown.
"Sets" starts sludgy in the beginning before some chaotic rhythm and a brief clean section. Before the latter is an ULTRA-BRUTAL bridge of growls by Suffocation’s Frank Mullen over some of the most intense rhythm Car Bomb or any other band has generated. It's so fascinating how perfectly suitable a death metal vocalist can sound in this style. "Cenotaph" is another wild ride. Same with "Lights Out", which has one of the most intense breakdowns since the heavier ones by Attila. The ending "Infinite Sun", summarizes all they've done. Cleans and screams collide as riffs blow your mind. In the middle is some Deftones-like rock before ending with the heaviest djent workout.
For 48 minutes, the band has made a brutal quest to level up their mathcore aura with an essential album to please fans of the genre. The riffing has heavy creativity and superb chemistry for the band members and their product. There's no denying how rewarding Meta is as one of the most consistent albums of the 2010s. Creative yet brutal, Car Bomb has made recent history with one of the most meta metal gems of 2016. Absolutely well-written mathcore for the daring!
Favorites: "From the Dust of This Planet", "Secrets Within", "Constant Sleep", "The Oppressor", "Sets", "Infinite Sun"
Genres: Metalcore
Format: Album
Year: 2016
Mathcore Long Islanders Car Bomb unleash their complex dissonance that is often compared to other bands like TDEP, Meshuggah, and Converge. Here we are at their second album w^w^^w^w (Waveform), their first album since their 2007 debut Centralia!
At that point, the band was already mixing the time changes and polyrhythms of mathcore with avant-garde beats, rhythm, and speed. For this album, clean melody adds the more dynamic aspect. w^w^^w^w adds a whole different contrast to their mathcore game, between peaceful light and violent darkness. And technicality is already the band's main power for their mathematical speed.
"The Sentinel" shows the drumming action pummeling over complex riffing and bass strokes. Notably, "Auto-Named" is an under-minute grindcore track, with so many notes in that short amount of time, something no other rock band has dared to go. The articular "Finish It" showcases drastic fury alongside a couple comedic sounds of "WOO!!!" The chorus of "Lower the Blade" is where, while keeping the chaotic noise, the cleanliness of vocal melodies and guitar chords rises. Still it won't work for anyone who's not up for going that far into brutality.
"Garrucha" sounds so easy in the even-time patterns, yet emphasized by the grinding machinery of the percussion, crushing riffs that are already crushing. Joe Duplantier of Gojira guest-appears in "Third Revelation", and not only does he provide killer growls but also the forceful impact of drum machinery that sometimes gets slower. There are also some recursive patterns towards the end of..."Recursive Patterns"! Next up, "Spirit of Poison" also briefly used clean vocals without reducing the usual monstrosity.
"Magic Bullet" has something rare, a real acoustic section that would have a different vibe if heard out of context. Yet it opens a deeper rift to descend into the lower caverns of brutal mathcore. You might expect regular mathcore in "Crud", but in the second half of that track, it goes far beyond as odd time changes and divisions decimate all boundaries. "This Will Do The Job" shows what an amazing job the band can do at making odd tight rhythms listenable. The album ends with the occasionally clean "The Seconds" to relieve you from the album's chaotic nature.
Don't listen to any music major bragging about how a different genre that's nowhere near as heavy and brutal as this album is "super-complex". If you want complex rhythms worth repeating and blasting polyrhythms, get this album that would very well blast those d****y majors' faces off!
Favorites: "The Sentinel", "Garrucha", "Third Revelation", "Magic Bullet", "Crud", "This Will Do The Job"
Genres: Metalcore
Format: Album
Year: 2012
The collaborative EP between The Dillinger Escape Plan and Mike Patton of Fantomas, Irony is a Dead Scene was one of the best mathcore EPs I've ever heard. But what do you get when kick the mathcore chaos up a notch? You get Car Bomb's debut Centralia!
Years before this album entered production, Neck band members Greg Kubacki and Michael Dafferner, and Spooge members Elliot Hoffman and Jon Modell decided to form a new noise-powered mathcore project. With respect for each other's styles, they've made a killer team. It wasn't until 2004 when they started recording a 3-track demo to send to labels. Once Relapse signed them in, the recording for Centralia was on...
Urgently, the drums roll in to open "Pieces of You", exploding into the discordant chaos that make up Car Bomb. Seriously, it's Irony is a Dead Scene on steroids! This is dark extreme mathcore that marks a killer break from the black metal/grindcore that extreme metal is often associated with. "Gum Under The Table" can surely blast gum off the wall as a pure attention-grabber. The under 30-second "Rid" is a brief blast through extreme math-grind. Things go as crazy as Fantomas in "Cellophane Stiletto". For "Best Intentions", you can't deny the jazzy breaks that appear frequently.
I think there's excellent chaos in "M6" as the tempo ranges all over the place, from slow sludge to sonic blasting. Rumbling through is "His Eyes", probably the most coherent track Car Bomb has to offer here. There are consistent hints at the band's later more experimental material in "Hypnotic Worm".
"Cielo Drive" is structured very strongly while staying close to the madness. This is demonstrated yet again the solid highlight "Solid Grey". Finally, "H5N1" ends this chaotic half-hour the way it started, bring it all to full circle, and marking quite a way to leave... That is, unless you get the groovy yet wild "Bra-c-ket" for one more glimpse of their sound for new listeners at that time before a 5-year gap between albums.
I can hear in a few small parts that Car Bomb isn't for everyone, with some slight struggle, but I can definitely stand it much more that most other people I know, and fans of Irony is a Dead Scene and avant-garde mathcore might also enjoy this work of artful chaos. You can't ignore this rewarding challenge of explosive aura....
Favorites: "Pieces of You", "Best Intentions", "M6", "His Eyes", "Cielo Drive", "Solid Grey"
Genres: Metalcore
Format: Album
Year: 2007
Ever since joining The Gateway, my tolerance for alt-metal has been revived and is currently expanding with a target of being wider than it was 10 years ago. With that said, I think this band is the right boost...
Karnivool is now currently known as an Australian avant-prog rock band, but two decades before this review, they were known as an alt/nu metal outfit that released a couple EPs and received numerous awards nationwide. Wanting to take on the rest of the world, they recorded an album with the sound as the EPs but in a more progressive turn. Themata was released in 2005 in their homeland before releasing it in the US and UK two years later. Get ready for some noisy greatness from down under!
The atmospheric opening track "C.O.T.E." packs some polished punches with riff crunch and frontman Ian Kenny's subdued vocals. Ethereal melodic streams flow with edgy guitar. The band is mature enough to handle the tight production and go complex without having to go high in speed. The title track follows up from that warmup to kick things up a notch. There's more complexity in a quicker pace, as intrinsic melodies level up the multilayered majesty. Already you're hearing the band's hints of prog-rock. The strong twists keep turning in "Shutterspeed", punching you in the gut with heavy guitar force. The spine-chilling pace is suitable for the outstanding guitar work. "Fear of the Sky" adds odd time signatures for the heavy guitar in the same vein as late 90s Incubus and A Perfect Circle at that time. These guys never f*** up this sound, unlike other such albums that end up being a blur. Karnivool have their multi-flavor identity to keep your attention span high.
"Roquefort" shows how confident the band to try a funky approach and expand boundaries without going beyond anyone's comfort zone. "L1FEL1KE" was recorded a few years earlier, probably during the Persona EP sessions, as you can hear from Linkin Park-like nu metal approach. The blistering progressive instrumental "Scarabs" flows right out of that previous track, though it makes an obvious difference. "Sewn and Silent" is a light acoustic ballad that allows you take a breath without any weak filler.
The heaviness builds up again with the slower highlight "Mauseum". I found that song and someone's orchestral version a few years ago. "Synops" continues that heaviness once again. The 20-second "Omitted for Clarity" is just a silent joke. "Change (Part 1)" ends the album on a cliffhanger to be resolved at the end of the next album.
I'm glad to have finally given this album a listen, and I have a feeling that each subsequent listen will be better than the last. With an amazing sound like that, no wonder they picked up so many awards in Australia and had many prominent live sets before they even thought of making a full album. Themata has a huge rock/metal combo of guitars and melodies in multiple layers. Get this album from a more magical land than Oz!
Favorites: "Themata", "Shutterspeed", "Fear of the Sky", "L1FEL1KE", "Mauseum", "Synops"
Genres: Alternative Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2005
There are several American tech-thrash bands who have released classics in the late 80s that are hailed as some of the greatest thrash records in the world. However, Aspid (Аспид) came a bit late into the game and missed their fame. On top of that, this band is from Russia and their record label from Latvia has only released 1000 vinyl copies for one of only two albums released by that label. With all that, Aspid was overlooked, and a few years later, they split up. However, they've reunited recently in the 2010s and a cult following followed, along with a remastered and digital version of this album, Кровоизлияние (Extravasation), finally giving the band attention after two decades!
The reason Aspid was considered late in the tech-thrash game is because at that time, the more popular tech-thrash bands were either changing their style drastically for commercial success or just splitting up. This Russian band wouldn't let the genre die though, they're bringing back the sound popularized by their heroes from the late 80s. Technicality is all around without getting too progressive and putting their energy on...well, energy. However, some progressiveness remains with the lengthy songs that extensive instrumental passages. But despite the heavy amount of instrumentation, the vocalist adds raw anger to the Russian lyrics to make them interesting. All of this conjures a coherent vibe in the gritty yet great production and even the memorable artwork with greater details the closer you look.
The two and a half minute "Intro" is one of the best to appear in a metal album with vocalist Vitaly Kholopov playing spooky horror synth, sounding like a sequel to the outro of Coroner's No More Color, setting the mood for the album... Then comes one of my favorite songs of the album, the menacing groove of the thrashy ''Он пришёл (Аспид)'' (It Came (Aspid)), killer way to kick things off! Literally starting in a high note is the monstrous ''К цели одной'' (Towards One Goal).
"Give Me (Play for a Ballet)" is a long slow song similar to sludge metal for the most part, yet another magnificent highlight with nothing boring! The fast thrash would return in the second half of that song. Drummer Vasily Shapovalov (who suffered a stroke and passed a few days later this year, RIP) does interesting percussion in "Эй, ты" (Hey, You), having the most lyrical and instrumental sections while only 4 minutes long. "Там, где ночь" (Where, the Night) alternates between fast and slow, with the fast parts including one of the most thrashy solos I've heard and even blast beats.
"Коматозное состояние" (Comatose State) is another good song with different groove. Closing the album is the brilliant title instrumental where the entire band can shine without vocals. That's what I call the Russian tech-thrash Crusade!
It's too bad this band never really got as much of a breakthrough as their western peers, not even after their recent reunion. This should really make some "greatest thrash metal albums" lists online and in magazines. Not really a reinvention, but a brave heavy attempt to redefine the once-forgotten genre of tech-thrash, though the fact that all the lyrics are in Russian brings the score down a half-star short of perfection. The internet can really bring to prominence a nearly unknown offering from 3 decades ago!
Favorites: "Он пришёл (Аспид)", "Дай мне (Пьеса для балета)", "Там, где ночь", "Кровоизлияние"
Genres: Thrash Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1993
The Bleeding Veil is a continuation of In Mourning's sound of progressive melodeath, a style I've left behind due to my death metal departure. Will I one day return to this style again? Probably, not right now, but this seems promising... The Bleeding Veil has the same quality as Garden of Storms, but with a few changes that are mostly good, but a few bad.
An Opeth-like way to open the album is the riffing of "Sovereign", a cool mid-paced opener, though less energetic than how Garden of Storms opens. In fact, much of the song has riffing inspired by Opeth, but near the end is a pleasant guitar solo. Besides that, "At the Behest of Night" also has Opeth-inspired verses, but the chorus really stands out.
Weakness is ahead with the lackluster riffing of "Solitude and Silence". However, the Opethian riffing in "Thornwalker" really makes up for that after an aggressive moment of blast beats. Consider me hooked to the heaviness!
"Blood in the Furrows" has some melancholic moments of soft gloom in a similar vein to Ghost Brigade. "Lights on the Mire" stands out with more of the chorus leads that work well in a soft background. The Amorphis-like closer, "Beyond Thunder" breaks the sky with an epic war between nice melodies and aggressive riffs. There's no telling which side would win, but it all works out as a song of ice and fire (Game of Thrones fans know that reference).
All in all, The Bleeding Veil continues the evolution of In Mourning's successful melancholic sound. It doesn't really beat Garden of Storms with a few uninteresting parts, but if I ever one day fully return to listening to this band, I might be able to appreciate these albums even more. Only time will tell....
Favorites: "At the Behest of Night", "Thornwalker", "Lights on the Mire", "Beyond Thunder"
Genres: Death Metal Progressive Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2021
At some point, I need a reintroduction into listening to Cynic, and this seems promising! I've severed the connection as part of my death metal departure, though now it's softer while still interesting. After Sean Reinert and Malone sadly left this world, Paul Masvidal kept going with a new drummer and bassist. The show still goes on!
Ascension Codes continues the band's modern journey, but with different ideas. The prominent emphasis on jazz-rock remains the same since Kindly Bent to Free Us. However, instead of that album's light-hearted moods, Ascension Codes brings us back to the metal guitar work of Traced in Air, maybe even Focus in Paul Masvidal's riffs and solos. His vocals still never cease to amaze me, ranging from whispered to clean to vocoded. There are a couple harsh vocal sections by Max Phelps.
In a similar format to Pestilence's Testimony of the Ancients, half the tracks are interludes while the other half are full songs, but let's only focus on the latter. "The Winged Ones" has nice riff repetition. You further travel through the cosmos with "Elements and Their Inhabitants". Highlight "Mythical Serpents" greatly shows each member's skill.
I also really like "6th Dimensional Archetype", not much else to say there. One track, "DNA Activation Template" has almost nothing but spacey ambient for stellar ethereal ambience. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the keyboardist here is Dave Mackay, who along with drummer Matt Lynch, have been granted their respective positions left behind by the two fallen Seans. Mackay really shines in that track in both the synths and the bass. Then it ends with a cool reprise of "The Winged Ones". Next up, "Architects of Consciousness" is another great highlight that reminds of the more progressive parts of Persefone's "Consciousness" instrumentals, only softer and more spacey.
The one track I don't really like is "Aurora" that sounds like a Kindly Bent To Free Us outtake. It's decent, sure, but not as great as the rest. "In a Multiverse Where Atoms Sing" is a much more interesting banger. That song is legit progressive metal and Matt Lynch's drumming is absolutely tremendous! Sean Reinert would be proud. "Diamond Light Body" is the best track to end the album, impressing us with progressive rhythm and synthesized vocals as always. Then it's all over after the outro.
Now this is great! Cynic is still going on after the disappointment that was Kindly Bent to Free Us and the loss of the two Seans, beyond our expectations and staying as relevant as ever. Unlike other bands that go softer album after album, this band goes back to pleasing the heavier fans. Ascension Codes is a space-trip not to be missed!
Favorites: "Mythical Serpents", "6th Dimensional Archetype", "Architects of Consciousness", "In a Multiverse Where Atoms Sing", "Diamond Light Body"
Genres: Progressive Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2021
Disguise is perhaps known as Motionless in White's full entryway intro industrial-tinged alternative/nu metal. However, I still believe the band's usual industrial metalcore mayhem is still around in the majority of the album's songs. That's kind of the issue with some RYM users. They don't know that what the band usually has is disguised within this alt-nu metal flesh.
This modern heavy metalcore band continues their path to achieve their goal of the most unique style they can do. They've done a lot of touring, and in between shows, they use the time to write material for their next album. Disguise opens up something different while staying within fan's expectations...
The album's title opener begins with a jack-in-the-box melody, then pop goes Chris Motionless yelling "GET UP! GET UP!" The guitar and drums kick in with the band's signature sound. The catchy chorus with Chris' cleans is easy to listen to. The harder breakdowns builds up with an excellent breakdown. Chris has a lot of vocal emotion. "Headache" starts with clean riffing and Chris' singing. It's a little too repetitive when the pre-chorus has Chris growling "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Linkin Park did that much better in the bridge of a certain hit of theirs. "</c0de>" has nice electronics. There's more influence from Linkin Park's heavier tunes. Softer, while still heavy.
"Thoughts & Prayers" has higher tempo, tighter riffing, and harsher screaming, right from the headbanging intro. The irreligious references are crystal clear here, heavily detailing crucifixion in the dark. The instrumentation is quite great, as the guitar and drums form something incredible and fast after the breakdown. "Legacy" is a slow ballad with very little screaming. It's quite listenable, though it would be better if they snuck in a guitar solo in the bridge. "Undead Ahead 2: The Tale of the Midnight Ride" is my favorite song here. As if this song being a sequel to an earlier one wasn't the tip-off, it stands out with a lot of the band's earlier metalcore heaviness and a catchy chorus. The instrumentation is so strong, as is Chris' deep screaming. Just be careful when driving while listening to this song, especially in the heavy breakdown. "Holding on to Smoke" is another slow song, about Chris daily life struggles that he's managed to overcome.
"Another Life" continues the album's easy slow side, hitting me with wonderful beauty and great lyrics that could shed me to tears. Fascinating! "Broadcasting from Beyond the Grave: Death Inc" begins with a radio sample, "Good evening. You're listening to Broadcasting from Beyond the Grave. Tonight's chilling episode: Death Incorporated." Kicking in is some electronic Marilyn Manson influences, but the structure is a bit sloppy and repetitive. "Brand New Numb" starts with an outtake of trying to sneak in an acoustic riff ("I'm trying to f***ing record this." "Sorry."), then the actual electric riff in the most poppy radio-friendly song here that's actually very well-written. "Catharsis" is slow and catchy, sounding closer Bring Me the Horizon at that time.
Motionless in White made another great addition to their discography! Well...not as great as the surrounding albums, but the different styles mixed around work well for listeners with great taste. Disguise is once again so different while staying familiar....
Favorites: "Disguise", "Thoughts & Prayers", "Undead Ahead 2: The Tale of the Midnight Ride", "Another Life", "Brand New Numb"
Genres: Alternative Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2019
Any of the more serious, heavier metalheads may consider Sepultura's Machine Messiah as THE metal album of 2017. That's an interesting opinion, but I'm not quite aware of Sepultura. There are other metal albums that I think have potential as the best of 2017, one of them being this album from a band I know more of, Motionless in White.
From the album cover alone, Graveyard Shift looks promising to be an amazing hard-hitting album (at least that's what I think), and I was right! There's more of this sonic captivating sound of the band to please my ears. Another thing to note is, one of the songs here features Korn's Jonathan Davis. Adding him in was a genius move, and his guest appearance never disappoints, despite me never having the interest in exploring his main band.
"Rats" already has the album's right tone, insane modern metal to make your ears bleed in pleasure. One of the best album-starters, and one of the most well-mastered in metal! "Queen for Queen" has intense rhythm, like a heavier darker Linkin Park. "Necessary Evil" is that song featuring Jonathan Davis, and Korn fans will get a great kick out of that masterpiece of a song. "Soft" is anything but soft. It's a more hardcore song, especially in the vocals that reach death growling, sounding closer to Slipknot. This song is worth headbanging to at loud volume.
"Untouchable" is another perfect industrial metal song. The incredible rhythm hits you hard, while being a more melodic song. "Not My Type: Dead as F*** 2" has my type of alternative/industrial/metalcore, heading towards Rob Zombie-like territory, p*ssing off neighbors if you turn it up high. "The Ladder" is not really a song I can get used to. It's thrashier with more of the growling vocals of metalcore, but it sounds out of place in this album. This might work better in their debut album Creatures, maybe? "Voices" is an incredible track, sounding a bit like earlier Linkin Park, specifically their hit "Somewhere I Belong", without ripping off. Motionless in White is quite an exceptional band with their technique of similar but not too similar.
"LOUD (F*** It)" is another fun track, though sounding too much like Limp Bizkit. "570" once again has the heavier vocals and faster riffing, though relaxes slightly in some parts. All in all, another song I enjoy! "Hourglass" continues the industrial nu metal experience from earlier in the album. "Eternally Yours" is the perfect compelling finale with alt-metalcore fire before calming down for a final outro to pleasantly end this album.
Graveyard Shift is another sonic achievement from this band. The dynamic really work with the volume. Maybe improve a couple of the songs to make it perfect, but the rest of this offering is amazing as it is!
Favorites: "Rats", "Necessary Evil", "Untouchable", "Voices", "570", "Eternally Yours"
Genres: Alternative Metal Industrial Metal Metalcore
Format: Album
Year: 2017
The dark journey of Motionless in White continues on, and once I complete this review, I'll already be midway through what they've had so far. I think you can consider Reincarnate the transition album between the two surrounding eras; the gothic-infused metalcore side and the alternative/industrial metal side.
The band really toured a lot in a way to end that first era that concluded with their second album Infamous. After some time off following that tour, the Motionless crew started working on an album that would continue the industrial metalcore sound and expand it further. This is...Reincarnate! With 13 tracks (not including an acoustic bonus track) and 4 guest vocalists, they focused slightly less on the earlier metalcore brutality, in favor of their new industrial direction. Get ready for some loud modern metal!
"Death March" sounds off some futuristic battle horns, then the drums, guitars, and synths start marching. After chanting the song title, Chris Motionless performs some vocals that sound close to rapping, that and the dark lyrics and melodic chorus bring the band's sound closer to Limp Bizkit. The title track and first single has some deep synths and metalcore riffing that begin when Chris shouts "GET UP!". What really makes this song accessible within the extremeness is the melodic Breaking Benjamin-like chorus, all piecing together a simply great structure. "Puppets 3 (The Grand Finale)" concludes the "Puppets" trilogy spanning those first 3 albums. The accessibility is decimated with more extreme bass, drums, synths, and vocals. Cradle of Filth’s Dani Filth comes in with his haunting signature growls and howls. The chorus has melodic synths and more of Chris' clean vocals. Without too much force, "Unstoppable" brings back some of the Marilyn Manson/Nine Inch Nails-like industrial rock/metal, though Chris' vocals sounds more punk alongside the growls. "Everybody Sells Cocaine" starts with a heavy yet electronic intro before verses that reference drugs. The chorus has the upbeat energy that Architects would later have in their recent alt-industrial metal era.
"Contemptress" has higher-level riffing and guest vocals from In This Moment's Maria Brink. I would consider that song one of the more mainstream ones here. "Break the Cycle" fits well in the middle of the album, with metalcore riffs interplaying with nightclub-like synths. Of course, you wouldn't expect Chris' furious growls in a nightclub. The synths and vocals remind me a lot of trance-metalcore bands like The Browning and Crossfaith. "Generation Lost" gets you all set for more electronic and drums, before some rock-on riffing. He continues the semi-rapping before his usual screaming fury in an epic chorus. "Dark Passenger" reminds me of a certain hit from Linkin Park's 2000 debut when a piano riff plays behind some synths in the intro. Though the vocals are more fierce than what Chester Bennington (RIP) could do. At this point, the formula is starting to get repetitive, but it's good when the band does it well. "Wasp" is the band's longest track at 7 minutes, though it has more hip-hop groove, replacing all the earlier brutal fury with beats and synths. Some of the smooth vocals are performed by Dessa Poljak of Silencio. An interest NIN-esque industrial highlight!
It's then followed by the album's shortest track, the sharp-worded "Dead as F***", having some eerie samples in the beginning, as the energy comes along with the synth-vocal-beat variety and lyrical storytelling. A classic for an industrial metal nightclub! "Final Dictvm", while not exactly one of their best songs, fits well for the electronics that form The Sphere, and the music has nothing worth b***hing about, especially with Swedish musician Tim Skold (Shotgun Messiah, KMFDM, Marilyn Manson) performing effective vocals. The final track of the standard edition, "Carry the Torch" opens with an acoustic intro as feedback ascends, all leading up to a short epic guitar solo and marching drumming. The earlier metalcore brutality returns, but not without a melodic chorus. The digital edition has a bonus acoustic version of the previous album's "Sinematic", an extra calm-down after all of the album's extreme heaviness. The vocals sounds more serene, despite not being as high-ranging as the original.
Sure, many songs follow the same old hardcore formula, but it's kept interesting with different electronics and tempos that make Reincarnate the forever fresh album it is. Motionless in White is certainly not one of those bands who repeat everything in every d*mn song. It's barely accessible, highly powerful industrial metalcore at its finest!
Favorites: "Reincarnate", "Puppets 3 (The Grand Finale)", "Contemptress", "Generation Lost", "Wasp", "Dead as F***", "Carry the Torch"
Genres: Alternative Metal Industrial Metal Metalcore
Format: Album
Year: 2014
Since their 2010 debut Creatures, Motionless in White has been known as one of the most impressive bands. Their name has been carved in stone thanks to the intense power and imagery of their songs and live performances. They even gained more fans in their audience after a Warped Tour performance. With their rising success, the band has made their sophomore comeback with their 2012 album Infamous!
Back then, Motionless in White still had their famous gothic metalcore sound. What's different is, they started reshaping their sound by adding different influences that would foreshadow their alternative/industrial metal future.
"Black Damask (The Fog)" starts with soft somber piano, then when you least expect it, it switches to an intense head-ripping assault of vocals, guitars, and drums. The chorus is where the expected clean vocals come in greater range than in their debut. The perfect stage-setter! Then the lead single "Devil’s Night" marks the first hint at the different aspects to come, including industrial synths and deeper growling vocals. Chris Motionless' killer vocal abilities also include the usual clean vocals in the chorus alongside guitar melodies. The lyrics motivate you to stand up against those in life ordering you around and not get taken down by them, all in emotional intensity. "A-M-E-R-I-C-A" expands the band's sound yet again. This is more like the gothic industrial metal of Gothminister, especially the deeper cleans in the verses. Michael Vampire of Vampires Everywhere! sings together with Chris in a sing-along gang chorus, one of the best of the genre! That song can definitely reach the hard rock/metal charts. America, F*** YEAH!!!! Next up, "Burning at Both Ends" is filled with dynamic metal, while also greatly melodic.
"The Divine Intervention" sounds close to what Marilyn Manson has done in Antichrist Superstar. A much different style from their earlier metalcore, complete with Chris' vocal range expanding. "Puppets 2 (The Rain)" starts off sounding a bit like brutal death metal. The chorus is sung by Soilwork's Björn Strid alongside the bellowing of Chris. It's clear how much intense passion can be found in these lyrics of storytelling vision. "Sinematic" is the darkest song here, but of course, dark doesn't always mean heavy. Emotional melody from the keyboards, guitars, and vocals, certainly make the atmosphere more cinematic. Chris continues to expanding his clean vocal range, a nice break from the earlier growling. "If It’s Dead, We'll Kill It" is one of the most intense tracks on the album. After a brief look into melodic black metal with the dark synths and vocal shrieks, the guitars and growls of metalcore return, and then another clean chorus. Bleeding Through vocalist Brandan Schieppati steps in with some intense vocals.
"Synthetic Love" has beautiful Orgy-esque industrial nu metal. The synths and large chorus make that song another standout gem. "Hatef***" is another track that sounds much closer to Fear Factory than Hatebreed. "Underdog" stands out as one of the best songs here, almost surpassing that "Puppets" track. There's guitar aggression, synth atmosphere, and vocal aggression throughout. This is a beautiful driving anthem, it's so great! The title track closes the standard edition in a mind-blowing bang. However, I would recommend getting the deluxe edition that includes "Sick From the Melt", a heavy goth industrial metal track that features Eighteen Visions drummer/Combichrist percussionist Trevor Friedrich on vocals. "Fatal" is also pretty good. Then finally, there are 4 remix tracks of the songs "A-M-E-R-I-C-A", "Underdog", and "Sinematic".
Infamous marks the beginning of Motionless in White's brand-new direction. The band has impressed their audience in greater levels. With more mature writing and diverse sound, they broke down more walls than they had before. Their bloodthirsty music and lyrics were written in great effort. Chris Motionless and the gang may not win back longtime fans from this album onwards, but it was worth making a masterpiece to bring in new fans. Still there is the need for longtime fans to keep listening so many times in order to get used to that different sound. This gem shall definitely be heard by fans of modern metal!
Favorites: "Black Damask (The Fog)", "A-M-E-R-I-C-A", "Puppets 2 (The Rain)", "If It’s Dead, We'll Kill It", "Synthetic Love", "Underdog", "Sick From the Melt" (bonus track)
Genres: Metalcore
Format: Album
Year: 2012
Motionless in White released their debut album after 6 years and 2 EPs since their formation. Hailing from Pennsylvania, this band really pushed the boundaries of metalcore into a higher enjoyable level. Their original sound became more theatrical, and listeners are ready to bring on the horror-themed metalcore of Creatures that bands like Ice Nine Kills can't do without!
You can also consider this metalcore album "gothic screamo" if you will, as the screamed vocals are more harmonized to fit well with killer riffing and memorable choruses. Creatures is probably the most serious the band had ever been in their career, determined to break down the limiting walls.
"Immaculate Misconception" kicks things off with a dark heavy raging breakdown. It's pretty much a darker American take on Asking Alexandria, and I mean that as a compliment. Next up, "We Only Come Out at Night" continues the dark sinister sound, and the different synths sound really cool. They can do those synths far better than Marilyn Manson. "London in Terror" has mind-blowing vocal combos, beginning light than growing heavier. I'm telling you, those synths are on a more powerful level than Marilyn Manson! "Abigail" starts heavy before the vocal combos come in. They're quite strong, though they overpower the song's maturity. They have really leveled up their attitude there! The title track is another step, despite the lack of originality, other than fan contributions to the lyrics.
"Cobwebs" has a more hardcore sound. Same with ".Com Pt. II" (short for "Schitzophrenicannibalisticsexfest.com" and a sequel to that song from an earlier EP), which isn't dark but instead still easy to listen to. The horror attitude of the album is still on display though. "Count Choculitis" marches along with exciting riffing. That track can change like a chameleon, starting heavy and sinister before ending soft and mellow, like when a horror film ends peacefully. The soft mellowness isn't actually reached until the delicate ballad "City Lights", the true odd one out in the album.
The horror-themed "Snow" trilogy starts with the vicious "Puppets (The First Snow)". The second "Snow", "Undead Ahead" grabs your neck and turns into a bobblehead, nodding wildly to the song. That will surely please the crowd. "Scissorhands (The Last Snow)" ends the trilogy and the album with a recap of the horror themes. You'll definitely wanna get the deluxe edition that has the bonus track "Dragula", an awesome cover of the Rob Zombie classic, and what got me into Motionless in White.
Creatures show this horror-themed metalcore band thinking outside the box. Not many bands can deliver the best they can offer this early in their careers. Motionless in White have shown us what has made them stand out from much of the metalcore crowd!
Favorites: "Immaculate Misconception", "We Only Come Out at Night", "Abigail", "Count Choculitis", "Undead Ahead", "Scissorhands (The Last Snow)", "Dragula" (bonus track)
Genres: Metalcore
Format: Album
Year: 2010
The earlier Motionless in White can almost be considered My Chemical Romance gone Atreyu. Their all-black fashion is mixed with their screamed songs about heartbreak. They never really deserve to be sh*t on honestly. Motionless in White has really stood out in a scene where bands care more about cash and popularity than keeping their fanbase. Though despite their hard work and touring, their EP The Whorror was a low sinker despite a couple excellent tracks. Still they were hellbent to carry on...
Their second EP When Love Met Destruction was first independently released as an album that was only sold in touring festivals. After gaining some fans who want to see the album released to the world, it finally happened! ...Sort of. 6 of the tracks were re-recorded for the more well-known horror-themed metal/hardcore EP.
The original album version is more solid though, so let's start with the mighty title opener. The chorus was reused for the title track of their real debut album Creatures as their only own lyrics used in that song, as the rest are fan contributions. "To Keep From Getting Burned" has a dissonant synth breakdown, leading to the chorus that has lots of power and lyrics of love and loss, "It's hard to keep from getting burned when love is like fire", though not as strong as the background shouting of former guitarist/vocalist TJ Bell. Chris Motionless' vocals sound a bit nasal, but they still soar. "Ghost in the Mirror" has an earlier and more frequently used chorus. It's a good way to ease up on the tiring growls. The final breakdown has well-done gang vocals and the synths performed by Josh Balz. Those synths keep the song in shape and are never repetitive.
"Destroying Everything" is another great song leading up to an epic outro showing the best of Chris' earlier vocal ability. "'Whatever You Do... Don't Push the Red Button" has great melody in the chorus. Re-recorded from the Whorror EP, "She Never Made It to the Emergency Room" is more serious, and the best song here. A moving story gets you hooked along with the chorus and strong instrumentation. "Billy in 4-C Never Saw It Coming" is more ridiculous in the title, but it flows well, with an intense breakdown.
Later re-recorded for Creatures, "We Only Come Out at Night" continues the dark sinister sound, and the different synths sound really cool. They can do those synths better than Marilyn Manson. Also appearing in Creatures is the delicate ballad "City Lights", though under the name "Bananamontana", the true odd one out in the album. "The Seventh Circle" is just shameful filler. The second re-recording from their first EP, "Apocolips" is another more serious song with a tragic story in the lyrics. The dark lyrical subject is well-written with straight driving instrumentation.
If I were to give the EP version a percentage rating, it would be 56%. The album version I would give 70% for the inclusion of two re-recordings and one demo. Motionless in White gained some potential here, with a few redeeming aspects. Still those two earlier releases are my least favorites of one of the best bands of the scene....
Favorites: "To Keep From Getting Burned", "Destroying Everything", "She Never Made It to the Emergency Room", "We Only Come Out at Night", "Apocolips"
Genres: Metalcore
Format: EP
Year: 2009
I've had fun listening to reviewing the Motionless in White albums. The band really had one of the strongest discographies from the 2010s up. I was more focused on reviewing those albums up to the new one that is this month's Gateway feature release, and did not think about reviewing their EPs. But now it's time to check out their earliest releases. Sadly, they don't have as much potential as the full albums...
This Pennsylvanian metalcore band started with a sound that a lot more emo/post-hardcore, while foreshadowing the horror-themed gothic metalcore they would be known for. The Whorror is an EP with that kind of sound, clearly not as well-developed as their debut.
The title intro is a short instrumental that sounds like a gloomy horror movie soundtrack, fitting for the band's future. And "Just When You Thought We Couldn't Get Any More Emo, We Go and Pull a Stunt Like This"! Yep, that's the long-a** name of that song, fitting well for what the band was doing there. This is self-empowering metalcore with the punky rage of high screams and spoken passages. The tone is set for a harsh humorous rampage. Basically a punky emo-metalcore song that is worth playing at a fun party.
Changing gears in the next song, "She Never Made It to the Emergency Room" is more serious, and the best song here. A moving story gets you hooked along with the chorus and strong instrumentation. The smaller sidetracked "We Put the Fun in Funeral" continues the serious approach, though I'm concerned about compositional style and lyrics. The semi-interlude "Black" is just punky filler with mostly spoken word rising into screaming angst while the instrumentation is blasting through. Pretty much all of their songs are better that poor sh*tter.
"Apocolips" is another more serious song with a tragic story in the lyrics. The dark lyrical subject is well-written with straight driving instrumentation. Closing the EP is "Schitzophrenicannibalisticsexfest.com" that displays the band's later horror-themed gothic metalcore with barely subtle lyrical content. Put together well while not having the same effect as those two highlights that would later be re-recorded in their new EP When Love Met Destruction.
I say this EP is a decent start to the band's career with strong potential in a few songs. The other songs in the EP though are immature and take away a lot of its greatness. A strong band can start a bit weak in the beginning, but it is what it is....
Favorites: "Just When You Thought We Couldn't Get Any More Emo, We Go and Pull a Stunt Like This", "She Never Made It to the Emergency Room", "Apocolips"
Genres: Metalcore
Format: EP
Year: 2007