Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Reviews
The Dillinger Escape Plan is a band whom only the heavier brain-battle-ready hardcore listeners can enjoy. Despite only that small portion of the world population enjoy this band, it consists of a few of the most talented people in the modern musical spectrum. Each album has pushed music boundaries off the edge of sanity. Some moments are ravenous and maniacal, and others are just lucid-dreamy. Despite the band's intense brutal reputation, they knew they had to go some time, and that time was right then. 2 months before this album Dissociation was released, TDEP announced that it would be their last album and they planned on splitting up the following year. The apocalypse was coming... I think they're one of two bands I like that split up at the end of 2017, the other being gothic rock/metal heroes HIM.
Everyone who listens to TDEP knows that they're a good place to start when getting into mathcore, a genre that mixes bizarre time signature combos with heavy aggression. Sure you can still find some mathcore bands active today, but there aren't a lot that are notable.
The album opens in a standard mathcore bang with "Limerent Death", filled with complete manic insanity, plus some yelling and screaming from both guitar and vocals. The violent blast beats and complex time signatures are far beyond how much your brain can handle. After that perfect violent opening track, the band switches gears in the beautiful "Symptom of Terminal Illness", filled with beautiful dread. It's a grim mind-bender that makes you forget almost all your good feelings. "Wanting Not So Much to as To" is another mathcore masterpiece with so much more than you ever want, including irrationally controlled songwriting and structure. This is all just traditionally structural subversion that can tears your minds apart and rebuild them again. The electronic interlude "Fugue" is Dillinger's own "Fugue in D minor" (minus any creepy organ melodies). Grim electronic sounds revels through your ears and the skull and spine between them.
"Low Feels Blvd" is a killer return to the band's signature experimental mathcore, hiding jazz fusion in pulsating thrash metalcore. Then there's a clean solo section with a nice mix of jazzy Latin rock before a short progression into a rare melodic guitar solo. Then the chaos comes back again briefly. The next track "Surrogate" once again blends progressive metal with grind-punk. Then after a descending power chord chorus, a heavy brutal breakdown crashes through before another jazz fusion-fueling section with nice drums. After that, the extreme complexity comes back that shows the band's creative technical genius. "Honeysuckle" continues that technical creativity, switching back and forth from some of the heaviest thrashing in the album to Latin jazz fusion breaks, all with complex time signatures and pulsating grooves.
The next track "Manufacturing Discontent" once again brings out some mathcore surprises. Because TDEP fans understand why the band has to go, well.... "Apologies Not Included"! That song continues their fantastic journey of prodigious style of inventive song structures in a maniacal soundscape. "Nothing to Forget" is indeed nothing to forget! It shows Dillinger's one of last ever efforts in their usual mathcore mayhem before transitioning into an almost tender string arrangement with Greg Puciato singing in smooth falsetto. Then in the last minute, we get to hear the band's mathcore madness for the final time. You might think the album would end after using up all their usual chaos, but nope! They want to really say farewell, with the final title track. It starts with melancholic strings before electronic beats come in and Greg Puciato starts singing in a truly tender voice. It's NOT as soft as an acoustic ballad but at the same time obviously NOT heavy. And finally, strings and organic drums and cymbals keep playing as Puciato repeatedly sings "Finding a way to die alone" as the mix fades and he sings that line a couple more times and...it's over.
Dissociation is a real swan song- I mean, swan album for Dillinger, but it has never been accessible to the mainstream, and neither was the band throughout their 20-year career. Still a lot of mathcore listeners followed and watched them to the end. Those listeners are the ones I would recommend this album to, not casual pop-obsessed people. Not the perfect TDEP album, but their perfect ending. It's a nice album to try out, and if any of the band's listeners move on, it's no big deal. RIP TDEP.....
Favorites: Limerent Death, Wanting Not So Much To as To, Low Feels Blvd, Honeysuckle, Dissociation
Ever since their 1997 formation, The Dillinger Escape Plan have combined death metal, hardcore, and art-prog to spawn the genre mathcore, or more specifically grind-tech-math-metalcore. They've released 5 awesome albums at that point, and one of them is another killer album, One of Us is the Killer!
On their fifth album, TDEP have a lot of extreme in their hands, but some of it is lost to construct songs with more melodic motifs. Their song-craft journey that they can still poly-rhythmic thrash metalcore choruses more barbaric than Conan the Barbarian while making more poppy numbers that would allow them to guest appear in Conan the talk show. It may sound selling out, but they can still be as extreme as they want to be.
The album's smashing opener "Prancer" once again continues the tradition of swinging straight into action. Off beat melodies shine in a considerate pace. The chaos doesn't come down when they kick off "When I Lost My Bet", probably the album's best song. It weaves riffs and setting off blast beats more powerful than a time bomb. This is a manic, intense song with no control. The title track is start of the straight-forward experimentation in the album, with dreamy jazz verses and more catchy than extreme choruses. Despite the song sounding a bit different, it still feels like something TDEP would do.
"Hero of the Soviet Union" is a nice comeback to the Miss Machine era. It has chaotic rhythms and a breakdown that drives you out of a city down a (survivable) cliff as Greg Puciato screams his lungs out, "YOU SMEAR YOUR FILTH ACROSS THE WORLD!!" The next track "Nothing's Funny" is a nice mathcore song with funny sound effects like licks that sound like a scurrying swarm of locusts. "Understanding Decay" sounds like a song that didn't make it into Option Paralysis which is understandable. Groovy hooks break down into creepy melodic bass sections. "Paranoia Shields" is definitely a typical TDEP song that can be in any of their albums. Vocals range from threatening singing to vicious shouting and screaming, and the instruments range between odd leads, driving rhythms, and intricate drums.
When you see a song title like "CH 375 268 277 ARS" that sounds a book ISBN or something, you know that there's going to be a digitally distorted hardcore interlude going on, and there is! "Magic That I Held You Prisoner" has some wild riff-wrath similar to many of their other songs along with uncontrolled drumming and a melodic chorus. Another outstanding track is the sludgy "Crossburner". "Phone Home" Part 2, baby!! Moody bass and mechanical distortion scatter over guitars while making the song more violent than a deadly earthquake. The madness would have a good grip on you and shake you hard. This is one of the best songs that don't make my top 5 favorites in this album. Then there's one more track, "The Threat Posed by Nuclear Weapons", a fitting raging finale. The band fires more shots of mathcore adrenaline with face-breaking screaming. Then after calming down for a bit, the chaos gets back up again to finish off the song and the album.
Unlike other hardcore metalheads who can cause abuse to the innocent with their music and lyrics, TDEP knows who or mostly what they can take their abuse out on. TDEP are not a college hardcore band anymore, and have evolved into functioning adults who have unleashed their precision with no denial of fun chaos. They released an album that has a little more slow melody balanced with the usual contorted rage. You'll definitely be headbanging at some extreme choruses like metalheads always do....
Favorites: Prancer, When I Lost My Bet, One of Us is the Killer, Nothing's Funny, Paranoia Shields
Technical metalcore has been scratched through many inches of speed and aggression. Part of it is maniacal proficiency, and the other part is primitive stripped-down rock-core. Dillinger's 1999 debut album Calculating Infinity is a game-changing easily-imitated album that is focused on said primitive proficiency. It looks easier than it really is! TDEP has controlled more arrangements than many of the bigger metal bands out there, but those arrangements are executed in raw energy and chaos.
Over a decade later, Option Paralysis continues the band's overthrowing power but while still critically successful, doesn't completely top the previous 3 albums. Once again, unlike the well-focused Calculating Infinity, the band continues to make their 21st century sound more stylistic while doing their best to keep their original sound. Calculating Infinity can never has its sound truly repeated by the band due to radical lineups changes affecting their direction. Miss Machine and Ire Works have a broadening crossover sound, where they do traditional melodic rock one minute, then hideously radical screaming mathcore the next. Option Paralysis continues that diverse style.
Say hello to their mathcore again with "Farewell, Mona Lisa"! It was a track that really teased what new direction the band might take in that album. The band gets really frantic in the first two minutes before the midsection artistry. The melodramatic chaotic ending breakdown is probably one of the band's heaviest moments since Miss Machine. "Good Neighbor" has some good elements of blistering heaviness. Now heading in less abrasive riffs, "Gold Teeth on a Bum" has some moments that can make a nice action-heist movie soundtrack, while bringing together a once-hated mix of metal and pop.
"Crystal Morning" continues the wild instrumentation and screams that punch deep into the bone. Same with "Endless Ending", where new drummer Billy Rymer shows some technical versatility riding through blast beat-cymbal adrenaline. "Widower" has a more open free structure and is one of the band's rare ballads with Greg Puciato's vast vocals alongside piano performed by Mike Garson, best known for performing in some of David Bowie's albums. Then the impulsive riff-barrage returns towards the end.
What's really spine-chilling is "Room Full of Eyes", not because of the creepy song title but also the song itself, especially when Greg Puciato screams "'CAUSE WE REAP WHAT WE SOW!!!" during the ending. "Chinese Whispers" has some more imperially thrilling lyrics like when he sings "Everything that you cling to will not last," during the black metal-like blast beat instrumentation. I wouldn't care if you didn't like "I Wouldn't If You Didn't", I would still listen to it. After a complex couple minutes of headbanging metal, there's seems to be a Latin swing section with more of Mike Garson's piano. Eat your heart out, Diablo Swing Orchestra!! The sinister closer "Parasitic Twins" mixes eerie experimental soundtrack with doo-wop harmonic vocals. It may sound unsettling to some listeners, but a satisfying ending nonetheless.
Forget Faith No More, TDEP is one of the more experimental bands out there. They can really do stuff like add blast beats into a Foreigner section. They have shown that they're not soft sell-outs, by making an album like Option Paralysis mostly astounding. This band should be in the compilation, Now That's What I Call Tech-Math-Metalcore!
Favorite Tracks: Farewell, Mona Lisa, Gold Teeth on a Bum, Widower, Room Full of Eyes, Parasitic Twins
The Dillinger Escape Plan have helped influence the metal/hardcore scene with their 1999 debut Calculating Infinity, though a couple bands like Daughters and The End kept their own mathcore sound for a couple albums before saying "Phuket!" and switching to something more...rock. While Dillinger's debut is known for all those crazy time signatures, riffs, and solos, those guys keep broadening their sound. Extreme metal fans love the technical dexterity but it won't be easy for them to get used to a more accessible turn. Accepting sudden changes can be a total challenge, but those changes get bolder each time. Their EP Irony is a Dead Scene has the famous Mike Patton on lead vocals, showing off his skills on 3 original songs and a cover of "Come to Daddy" by Aphex Twin. Their 2004 album Miss Machine balances the chaotic force of their debut with a couple streamlined melodic tracks, thanks to vocalist Greg Puciato. Then there's another EP, Plagiarism, that "plagiarizes" 4 popular songs.
With all those incredible moments and stylistic changes, Ire Works continues the awesome mathcore chaos. And we're all lucky that this album even made it. The band had a reputation of bizarre misfortunes over the years, a couple of which were lineup changes that happened sometime before the band was ready to record this album. Guitarist Brian Benoit left the band due to his left hand being injured in the nerve as a result from brachial plexus neuritis, then drummer Chris Pennie left to join Coheed and Cambria, just a few days before recording started. That meant that the band's founding guitarist Ben Weinman had to do all guitars on the album, but at least they got new drummer Gil Sharone (from avant-garde metal band Stolen Babies). Vocalist Greg Puciato and bassist Liam Wilson still got on board and are ready to really outdo their sound.
The brutal opening track "Fix Your Face" commences the second album in a row to start with a bang, an intense opener of destructive perfection with guest vocals by original vocalist Dimitri Minakakis. "Lurch" continues the chaotic rhythm-changes and jazz underlines. Those two songs both make a killer album opening! However, "Black Bubblegum" is a big surprise for long-time listeners. It's basically a more agitated Fall Out Boy gone Faith No More, a dark pop-core song with vocals switching between snarly singing and haunting falsetto. "Sick on Sunday" is also more experimental, basically heavy breakbeat electro-grind.
"When Acting As a Particle" is an interlude that starts with Gamelan-like percussion with suspenseful strings before the guitars start building up. "Nong Eye Gong" is a brutal vitriolic short grind song with more of Puciato's seething screams that makes up for those previous 3 mellow tracks. "When Acting As a Wave" is a great groovy instrumental that sounds like something 65daysofstatic wish they had done. The band's manic mathcore evolution continues in "82588" that could've worked better in Miss Machine.
Another experimental offering comes in with "Milk Lizard" that sounds almost like a tribute to the Jesus Lizard with Puciato easily pushing David Yow off the hardcore vocal throne. The song is just filled with guitar-wrath over trumpets and an out-of-nowhere piano motif. "Party Smasher" continues the typical time-changes worth moshing as another nice break from the experimentation. "Dead as History" starts with some static noises before beginning some cool riffing and chord progressions that almost come out as a Coheed and Cambria song. Perhaps it's a nice tribute to Chris Pennie leaving Dillinger for Coheed and Cambria, though some of the heavier listeners might hate it. The album's last two tracks are also amazing, starting with "Horse Hunter", first starting with the usual TDEP mathcore before going into their Zappa influences, more furious groove, spacey synths, and guest vocals by Mastodon's Brent Hinds. The moody "Mouth of Ghosts" is probably the longest TDEP song at almost 7 minutes. After 4 minutes of mellow jazz piano, things start building up before the guitars enter one last time in an almost theatrical conclusion.
At this point, The Dillinger Escape Plan is no longer just strictly obsessive mathcore and has accepted this eclectic new direction. Are you in or are you out? If you accuse them, go find some other band like Psyopus. Some of us prefer to appreciate the band's true talent in the most thrilling album of their career. Well played, Dillinger!
Favorites: Fix Your Face, Black Bubblegum, Sick on Sunday, Milk Lizard, Dead as History
There's no better word in any language than "intense" when describing The Dillinger Escape Plan, with everything including heavy jazz guitars, groovy bass, chaotic drums, and screaming vocals that are almost suicide for your vocal cords. The band has enough energy and power to really pack an uppercut punch. They've already proven that with their 1999 debut Calculating Infinity, filled with outbursts technical proficiency. Vocalist Dimitri Minakakis left the band after that album, leaving the band's future almost uncertain. At least he came to do the layout and design for the artwork for this album Miss Machine, which I have no idea what is going on in that cover art.
Then after their 2002 EP with the legendary Mike Patton, Irony is a Dead Scene, Greg Puciato steps in as the band's full-time vocalist. Though controversy struck in one of his first major concerts with the band; at the Reading Festival (the UK city Reading) that year, Puciato literally pooped in front of the audience, put it in a bag, chucked it into the crowd, and smeared the rest all over himself as a sign of "the s*** happening later that day" (referring to bands performing in the festival later such as Puddle of Mudd). WHAT THE FRAPPE?! That's gross and illegal!! Indeed, that band almost got banned from the UK for that. But did they fire Puciato? NOPE! That incident was set aside and TDEP fans finally get to hear him both scream and sing in this album, Miss Machine. Not as much energy as Calculating Infinity, but nonetheless a whole new direction.
The first track "Panasonic Youth" really blasts listeners in the face with punishing fury. There are many twists and turns with Puciato's thunderous screaming, relentless guitars, quick passages, and tapping rhythms. The band slows down a bit for some grating bass and more pummeling drumming. The song picks up the sonic aggression again toward the end. Impressive for 2 and a half minute song! The next track "Sunshine the Werewolf" shows the guitar skills keeping the pace and never slowing down. Chris Pennie's drumming is so amazing that it's baffling. Puciato's vocals are once again fantastic, especially when he unleashes a crying scream of "DESTROYER!!! There'll be another, just! Like!! YOU!!!" during a dramatic orchestral bridge. "Highway Robbery" has some prominent bass in the verses with the rest of the band having a riot in the chorus and a fun bridge section. Chris Pennie has an odd hip-hop beat going on before heading back into the bridge once more.
The album continues hitting the spot with "Van Damsel", featuring the same musicianship but less inspired. The guitar rhythm is a drag and the ambient ending doesn't help at all. "Phone Home" is a better but slower sludge track. After mellow ambiance, the drumming eventually gets crazier in weird static. Greg Puciato has some raspy clean vocals in the first verse that turns into savage shrieking in the chorus. That must really be what a serial killer sounds like. The guitars follow those vocals that get more angry, unsettling, and distorted every verse. It keeps violently seguing from one chorus to another in a wall of distortion. Excellent variation! "We Are the Storm" returns to the band's signature sonic storm attack of atoned chaos. This may be annoying for some of the lighter listeners, but being a heavy metalhead myself, I don't mind at all. There's a nice mellow guitar passage subdued into the next section, but it's a little draggy. Then the chaos returns in the last minute. "Crutch Field Tongs" is a really odd ambient interlude that sounds like a machine dying before fading into oblivion...
But it fades back into the next track, "Setting Fire to Sleeping Giants", the best song of the album, starting with a buildup with evil yet soft singing. Then the catchy guitar and drums come in with Puciato's soaring screaming. The verses have some intense energy with frantic drumming, pounding bass and primal screaming, before a chorus of cool clean singing. Then there's a jazzy chill passage with a beach sunset vibe and amazing guitar tone, followed by the unsettling intense pre-chorus and chorus once again. Honestly, the song sounds a bit like Fall Out Boy gone experimental metalcore. I love it, perfect song! Then there's "Baby's First Coffin", having the most intense song intro for this album, and probably should've been the album's opening track instead of "Panasonic Youth". The amazing guitars scream as intensely and Puciato's vocals. Then there's a weird ambient passage. Puciato's vocals are pretty much the best in that song. Next is "Unretrofied", the softest song on the album and good for popular radios. There's almost no screaming nor technicality. The strength in the vocals is more in the chorus than the verses. The song is a little interesting, but heavier listeners would not be satisfied. "The Perfect Design" has the typical mayhem; chaotic drums, earth-shaking guitars, a little ambient passage, and more painfully great guitars until the end.
So how is Miss Machine doing? Well, the album is somewhat spectacular with the continuation of the band's ridiculously extreme technicality while branching out in new mellower places. Greg Puciato has really given the band a more versatile ability to explore different styles. Sure, some moments don't work out well, but the band's mathcore style is still redeemed. Miss Machine is an excellent extreme hardcore album, and first-time listeners would be pumped up for their next move....
Favorites: Sunshine the Werewolf, Highway Robbery, Phone Home, Setting Fire to Sleeping Giants, Unretrofied
I thought I've reviewed all The Dillinger Escape Plan albums, but I missed a special release where they collaborate with one of the most legendary vocalists in the music world. The band consisting of Ben Weinman (Guitar), Brian Benoit (Guitar), Liam Wilson (Bass) and Chris Pennie (Drums), plus former bassist Adam Doll on keyboards collaborated with the one and only Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle) for a killer mathcore EP!
While on the search for a suitable replacement for previous vocalist Dimitri Minakakis, The Dillinger Escape Plan came across Mike Patton who was touring with Mr. Bungle. He must've been such a big fan of TDEP's Calculating Infinity that he was interested in joining in some sort of record of theirs. Having been some time since their last album and this is THE Mike Patton, the band agreed and put their vocalist search on hold. It's pretty interesting that one of the craziest bands team up one of the craziest vocalists to create a super crazily awesome EP. If you thought the results would be much different than their usual material, Irony is a Dead Scene is an exception.
"Hollywood Squares" starts the chaos right at the press of the play button, with Patton screaming "GAME OVER! I WIN!! GAME OVER! YOU WIN!!!" The Intensity never stops and instead keeps twisting and turning through all this variety. As the fast pace speeds on, Patton shows off his astonishing vocals ranging from blood-curdling yelling and creepy whispering. What a great maniac! Things get quieter in the second half where Patton sounds closer to his more accessible time in Faith No More. There's still some more amazing creative talent! The furious extreme noisecore rages on once more as Patton snarls "We're Hollywood squares, going nowhere". After that amazing shocker, "Pig Latin" starts calm. First a slow haunting guitar riff plays, then keyboard joins in, followed by Patton's soft singing. It sounds accessible at first but you know it's gonna build up to more chaos. The heavier chorus as guitars explode into heaviness. Patton starts singing deep vocals that sound almost gibberish surrounded by squeals of "Chinga". The guitars get really chaotic as the chords get forcefully wrung out. That and Patton's chaotic squealing causes the guitar to sound like you're bending a pipe around its neck to strangle it. The intensity returns as Patton yells "Speaking Pig Latin, kiss me goodnight" as the band blows the roof off this dump. After a few strange beeps, the song then sounds like a lounge band with the lead vocalist being a psychotic murderer. Those deep lounge vocals work well there! Then it's back to the beginning with the first verse and chorus, except in the chorus, only "Chinga" remains, then ends with one more incomprehensible gibberish line. One of the best TDEP songs!
"When Good Dogs Do Bad Things" is much greater, one of my all-time favorites from this band! Everything's in the right place, and it would be a great song to perform live, though if they ever did, it would be with vocalist Greg Puciato. It begins with Patton yelling "I'm the best you've ever had!!" This song has the most intensity and variety in this EP. The riffs go all over the place in perfect sense. Pure genius!! After some strange gibbering, he starts chanting "mommy" similar to a Gregorian choir. It pauses a few times then his voice rises to screaming as if he was a little kid crying for his mommy. The riffs and vocal abilities get better as the song progresses. More screaming insanity! This song once again proves that Mike Patton is one of the best vocalists in the whole wide world amen. Then suddenly the wild intensity is interrupted by a sudden ambient section with good drumming and haunting vocals. Then it gets much cooler. The guitar sounds darker and more restrained as Patton sings some very low vocals. Then suddenly the crazy screams and mad guitars return again. Then it switches back to the low singing then back to the high screaming. The drums throughout those sections are amazing. Then the song fades out with a film reel, and you think it's all over. Then PSYCH!!! The song returns unexpectedly for one more heavy reprise, like an abrupt jump-scare! One of the most incredible songs by the band.
The final song is a cover of "Come to Daddy" by Aphex Twin. The original song by Aphex Twin might be weird, but a whole new weird dimension is opened by Dillinger. Patton's vocals sounds pretty odd there, sounding like an alien who's gagging and about to throw up the souls he ate, to fit the disturbing nature. It's not as impressive as other songs in this EP, but the drumming is pretty good. However, the guitar is just simple with a repetitive riff. There's a good midsection where they change the guitar line, and every time a new instrument or effect is played, another new one steps in as well. Patton does some pretty weird vocals here. After a strange trance section, it fades to a chilling piano outro. Probably the lowest point of the EP, but still awesome!
Irony is a Dead Scene is not an EP for the faint of heart. Even though it might seem surprisingly normal for a Dillinger EP, it's still a million light-years away from all that conventional radio sh*t. Dillinger truly has a chaotic insane sound of noise-mathcore. With this album, they seem to shine the spotlight further away from themselves onto Patton, the main star, though their musical creativity is still in this EP, hinting at what was to come next in Miss Machine. While not having the same level of insanity as Calculating Infinity, this EP takes and refines every aspect of that album. Dillinger had learnt some great tricks from this EP, and that's why Miss Machine is worth the wait!
Favorites: "Pig Latin", "When Good Dogs Do Bad Things"
Some of you know who Dillinger was, right? John Dillinger was a 1930s criminal known for his bank robberies and prison escapes. A friend of the band's, Matt Makowski was watching a documentary about John Dillinger which gave Matt the idea for the band name, The Dillinger Escape Plan! After that, TDEP went on to record two EPs; the self-titled EP and Under the Running Board. Both of those albums helped establish the genre mathcore, stemmed from a mix of grind-punk with thrash, experimental, and progressive metal. Then there was the first few of many line-up changes the band had throughout their career. Bassist Adam Doll suffered a major spinal injury in a minor car accident, which left him paralyzed from the chest below. He's OK, but he lost the dexterity to play bass and has since played keyboards with the band on brief occasions. Guitarist John Fulton left as well with Brian Benoit taking that spot. Vocalist Dimitri Minakakis would have his last studio effort with the band making this album.
The album title Calculating Infinity makes some sense because the music is so strange and complex that there are infinite possibilities of how their sound would go. That's one of the things about math metal that keeps it together. It's mathematical! After Dillinger's two grind-punk EPs, Calculating Infinity explodes in brilliant venomous combustion, expanding on the aggressive technical grindcore that would establish the band's signature mathcore.
Dillinger opens the gateway to mathcore with "Sugar Coated Sour" in a percussive barrage. Minakakis’ feral yells show some of the band's brutality, then around the 40-second mark, the band's inner jazz fusion comes in before continuing the artful yet punchy staccato descent into madness. Nothing else on this album can work on that compound inversion. Nothing except "43% Burnt", the most popular track in this album. The fans love it enough for the song to remain a staple in the band's stage setlist. The song opens with screeching chords, before continuing into what may be the anthem of mathcore. The last minute and a half is just a trance-inducing mantra that slowly fades out. I think that's the 43% of the song that's burnt. The song still has a lot of the potential the band has offered; a playful section, atmospheric guitar, enraged lyrics, and more tempo changes than most other bands' albums. Beautiful yet defiant! However, "Jim Fear" is pretty much more straight-forward than complicated. The mix is more overwhelming than impressive with visceral impact. "*#.." is an interlude that starts ambient before an aggressive yet soft-sounding metallic hardcore twist fades in.
"Destro's Secret" has more of Minakakis’ yelling along with grumbling and chanting, along with a jazzy interior before one of the more violent sections of the album. "The Running Board" is a song that probably works better in the Under the Running Board EP. After a chaotic minute, the song switches to a western noir theme that escalates into some more jazz fusion. Still there's no denying that the song is a hardcore anthem for metalheads. "Clip the Apex…Accept Instruction" continues the impeccable tightness with guitars of tangling destruction, then just when you think the band has settled their sound into sanity, the sound rises into an amp-ruining wall of noise.
Then just when your eardrums are about to burst, it switches to the title interlude. It's softer with some guitar crunch before building up building into the maximum tension needed for the next track. "4th Grade Dropout" continues the guitar string-striking terror, followed by a drum break that rises into melodic experimental post-hardcore. More hyper-speed repetition while keeping the band's creative steam! There's one more interlude here, "Weekend Sex Change" which is kind of a nice summarizing sound collage. "Variations on a Cocktail Dress" is a memorable closer for this album, once again putting together the band's destructive force with their small jazz movements. After Minakakis' roared out final lines, there's 3 minutes of silence, leading up to an eerie grating noise with samples from the 1959 Diary of Anne Frank film.
The album has the band's Cynic-like guitars, bass, and jazz breaks; extreme metal drumming that combines offbeat jazz with the aggressive technicality of Cryptopsy; and raw spine-chilling hardcore vocals. This would surely be appreciated by people who understand the band's chaotic complex genius. So mathematical!
Favorites: Sugar Coated Sour, 43% Burnt, The Running Board, Weekend Sex Change, Variations on a Cocktail Dress
Ladies and DJENTlemen, are you ready for THE djent album of 2016? It's the Violent Sleep of Reason! If you've been listening to Meshuggah since Destroy Erase Improve or Nothing, you know the journey. Djent riffs, random time signatures, robotic drums, and Jens Kidman's trademark loud vocals, all in here in a day's work...literally; they recorded it live simultaneously instead of separately! Can you believe it?? Despite most of the members being currently about the same age as my parents (average 50) and their signature sound continuing to be rebuilt, The Violent Sleep of Reason has some of the new elements and possibly the band's violently strongest content in a long time.
I still think Catch 33 is the best Meshuggah album (tied with Destroy Erase Improve). Catch 33 has a special concept of a 47-minute suite, and nothing can push that album off its throne. That's the kind of album that would help stay above the surface of water while swimming you back to the shore right when it ends. Next is obZen, a decent album with obvious highlights but doesn't have the same energy. Koloss, on the other hand, is nothing to worry about. It has good songs, some of them slower in a good groove way. It sounds a little stale, but that's okay because it's enough to really surpass obZen. If you thought a new Meshuggah album was nothing to be hyped about, well you had the wrong fears! This album really overthrows obZen and Koloss as another kick-A album, though Catch 33 is still in the higher competition.
You know how good and brutal the album starts with "Clockworks" as the kick-off. This is my favorite song of the bunch and one of the band's best recent songs. Drumming here is incredible, livening things up with the mechanical snare. The more enjoyable part of the song is the second half, where the djent riffs are more repetitive yet they make the complexity look so easy. It's easy to let the rhythm and energy take over your body. An opening track so good you listen to it on its own! "Born in Dissonance" is more dissonant yet simple, working well enough to get caught up in the game. "MonstroCity" is not totally the best song, but still monstrous with a sludgy thematic sound.
"By the Ton" retains a lot of energy BY THE TON. It's slower but has great riffs and a nice but still tough ending. The title track is filled with violent chaos, shining intensity, and uncertainty fitting altogether. "Ivory Tower" is simpler but still OK. "Stifled" is not at all bad, but not good enough to be a great highlight. However, it's still a nice tune worth headbanging and it has a fantastic clean synth outro. What's not to love about that?
Seguing out of that outro is "Nostrum", one of the album's best songs energetically. The traditional Meshuggah beats are on the loose there! "Our Rage Won't Die" really levels up the rage with a catchy djent riff that keeps playing from the beginning to other parts of the song. "Into Decay" is a fantastic closer; the slowest song yet more powerful. After vocalist Jens Kidman yells the last lyrics of the song at the top of his lungs, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! WHAT HAVE YOU BECOME?!?", many of the elements of the album's sound all keep crashing through one another until they finally collapse.
This album shows Meshuggah bringing back what they have to keep their throne as the djent masters. There's more character and life than the previous two albums. The production is similar to those albums, but it's actually more organic and lively due to the live recording technique. Every song keeps building incredible momentum and power without losing them. It's a grand djent experience, though it can't beat the superiority of albums 2-5. DJENT WON'T DIE!!
Favorites: Clockworks, By the Ton, Violent Sleep of Reason, Nostrum, Into Decay
Meshuggah has done a good job mesmerizing metalheads with their musicianship. With their poly-rhythmic structures, brilliant drumming, and diabolical guitars and vocals, they spawned a bigger fan-base and inspired many metal musicians to help develop the djent movement. But what has some of their best originality?
Koloss! A more colossal, cerebral side of Meshuggah has been unleashed. The duplicating musicians think they got everything with the sound and structure, but what they missed is the attitude and intelligently thought-up ideas Meshuggah has. They know when to go slow and when to speed things up with poly-rhythms warping through space and time. All that begins to shine in Koloss.
Starting in a colossal bang is the strong slow groove opener "I Am Colossus". Then it gets much faster charged in "The Demon's Name is Surveillance", bringing the two songs in an equal balance of slow and fast. Do not look away from the slow chugging that continues in "Do Not Look Down". On top of that song's slow groove, there's a really jazzy guitar solo that makes the groove groovier.
The slow chugging riffs keep going again in "Behind the Sun", another good djent song. "The Hurt That Finds You First" is just real charged-up supreme chaos. The trademark guitar moments really turn something aggressive into a work of art. "Marrow" is a song with just predatory eccentricity. "Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion" sums up a lot of the band's signature insanity. It's a nice glimpse of their sound from Nothing, something to be both loved and hated. It's slower, spacey and long, but still gets technical. What's new here is the random time signatures used in a way that's never before heard before, pushing through progressive math metal boundaries.
"Swarm" has a swarm of fast thrash similar to previous albums. Vocalist Jens Kidman's performance is spectacular in "Demiurge", along with that song's ambient intro and outro. The last track, "The Last Vigil" is basically a doom filled ambient clean guitar outro.
So if you thought Meshuggah would become outdated and obsolete around then, take it easy and think again. This album has the most accessibility for Meshuggah, while evolving from the speedy riff-wrath of their previous album obZen. With all that excellent essence that keeps the band's sound alive, Meshuggah would surely be one of my favorite metal bands ever! This is really something to buy, for sure....
Favorites: I Am Colossus, The Demon's Name Is Surveillance, Do Not Look Down, The Hurt That Finds You First, Demiurge
Meshuggah had emerged once again with another album, obZen. Metalheads who either love or hate Meshuggah would expect them to have horrendously crushing downtuned riffs, awesome drumming, and other stuff to form a rising wall of sound. All of that can be found in obZen with a little interesting difference.
The album opener, "Combustion" causes the album to combust into an explosive start. Straight forward complexity, yet there aren't any poly-rhythms and the song is just all-out thrash. A killer callback to Contradictions Collapse and a very upbeat album opening! "Electric Red" contains excellent riffing, especially in that sweet passage at 1:10. "Bleed" is probably the best song by Meshuggah since Chaosphere. Thrashy and memorable! At 1:24 is a total headbanging passage.
"Lethargica" is more technical and slower, but it comes out as one of the album's heaviest tracks. The riffs during the fade-out are excellent. The bone-crushing breakdowns continue in the album's title track. The sheer intensity of the astonishing "This Spiteful Snake" is just possessed with power, compelling the listener to hear this relentless attack whether or not the listener's brain would get confounded.
"Pineal Gland Optics" continues to deliver speed and has some excellent riffs with higher intelligence, especially in the fade-out. The opening riff of "Pravus" is simple enough for the drummer to follow, but leads into the song so perfectly. What may be vocalist Jens Kidman's best vocal performance yet is on the album's closing track, "Dancers to a Discordant System", along with some of the last prominent vocals from drummer Tomas Haake. Both of those vocals gave me chills! That song has far more intelligent riffs than most of the other songs and really brings the album to a great discordant end.
Whether you love it or hate it, you just have to face it, Meshuggah is a total winner in the European metal scene. The chemistry built up by the band members is astonishing, as well as the constant quality that still turns out well through the moderate experimentation one album after another. ObZen has the usual business, and that's NOT at all a problem with Meshuggah because it's the sort of level of music no other band can achieve after one album. Sadly it doesn't match the standards of their previous albums. Perhaps a good album to start with when you first get interested in Meshuggah, encompassing all the band's essentials. Newcomers' minds shall be blown away....
Favorites: Combustion, Bleed, Lethargica, Pravus, Dancers to a Discordant System
(Same review as 2002 version)
This is it. This is definitely the album that has spawned one of the deepest, heaviest genres known to mankind...DJENT! Slower tempos and heavier groove than the band's previous thrash metal albums, with occasional jazz-infused moments, and more importantly, downtuned 7-string guitars (though 8-string guitars would not be used until the album's 2006 re-recording). Nothing is an album that really turned Meshuggah from NOTHING into SOMETHING!
Before I started listening to this band, I never realized how heavy, brutal, and overall good they are. This album, Nothing, will surely show you what I mean. Well the repetition is a little unnecessary, but the album is still cool nonetheless.
Jumping into the action straight away is the opening track "Stengah", a sick brutal song that can sting your eardrums harder and more pleasantly than a hundred wasps with the downtuned jarring staccato guitars locked in by the tight drums. Then the vocals come in a big round of hardcore shouting. That's rather excellent! "Rational Gaze" is another killer song with a paradoxical lyrical theme. "Perpetual Black Second" is just amazing and a potential staple to the band's live set, with some of the heaviest riffs any band could create, bringing the odd time signatures to a new peak for the band.
Rising from staccato power chords, a new uncommon style of riffing really reminisces many bass techniques, evident on "Closed Eyed Visuals". Same with "Glints Collide", with that type of riffing at its clearest, sounding almost as if the album was entirely recorded with bass guitars, while the guitars stay notable with its super heavy crushing tone. The solo really sounds alien-like, bringing a twisted form of jazz fusion. "Organic Shadows" is once again chaotic, but it doesn't have a lot of sense in instrumentation. As technical as the band usually gets, the habit of repeating chords at that point is...well, repetitive. The vocals are still fine there but sound a little constipated. The opening riff of "Straws Pulled at Random" is really thrashy hardcore-sounding similar to The Dillinger Escape Plan, and I love that!
Other than all the guitars and drums being re-recorded and the vocals being remastered in the 2006 version, the only other notable differences are the last 3 songs. For some reason, my copy of the original 2002 version did not have "Spasm". Either it was accidentally removed from my copy, or my copy came from the UK where they removed the song because of "spastic" or "spaz" being an offensive swear there. That's a shame because drummer Tomas Haake's clean robotic vocals in that song sound bizarre yet still cool, and now I'm wondering what the original song sounds like. Haake's robotic vocals return in a small narration in "Nebulous". The only big difference for this song in the 2006 version is, it's slightly slower. "Obsidian" has a cool clean opening, before crashing into a small simple riff repeated so many times. The 2006 version is twice as long as the original version, extending both the front and back. Instead of fading out at 4:20, it goes on until 8:35 and ends abruptly!! Ain't that repetition annoying?!
In conclusion, it's not easy comparing this album to later Meshuggah albums, nor would it be easy to listen to entirely with a couple songs being a little repetitive. But after a few listens, then you would know that the band discovered a new gem that is djent. Even when not needed, you should buy this album. This is the beginning of djent!
Favorites: Rational Gaze, Perpetual Black Second, Closed Eye Visuals
This album stands in a fine line between love and hate, even for Meshuggah fans. Some Meshuggah fans praised the heavy groove textures, while longtime listeners did not approve of the album having less thrash and more jazzy elements. I'm one of the people who love this album, enough to be my favorite Meshuggah album, tied with Destroy Erase Improve. I think it might be in my top 10 best metal albums!
This is a concept album where all songs flow seamlessly together like an epic suite, similar to some Between the Buried and Me albums. A complete trek of a journey from start to finish, that you would want to do all over again. It's a djent journey not to be missed!
The beginning of the trek, "Autonomy Lost", along with later sections, are powered by almost the same riff as the album's prequel EP, I. Yes, I have listened to the I EP, and while I love that humongous suite as much as this album, I never really plan on reviewing it because I'm not gonna waste my reviewing energy on that one-song EP, even though a lot of people on the internet reviewed it, sorry. I don't have much to say about "Imprint of the Un-Saved" and "Disenchantment" except those two songs and the first one really should have been a full 5-minute song together instead of just 3 very short parts. "The Paradoxical Spiral" has a great part right after the vocals. "Re-inanimate" is a little different but definitely should've stayed together with the two tracks to form from a trio into a 7-minute song. The terrorizing guitar solo in that next track "Entrapment" is absolutely memorable, along with Jens Kidman's bellowing vocals and a masterful tremolo at the end.
"Mind Mirrors" is a whole different story for Meshuggah; a guitar string tuned to the lowest audible octave possible, drummer (or in this album, just vocalist due to the drum programming) Tomas Haake's echoing robotic clean vocals, and soft ambient guitar, before the heavier guitars echo...then explode into the heavy groove onslaught of "In Death - Is Life", an ultimate concept of flowing dynamics in metal or any other music genre. "In Death - Is Death" should've fit together with "Is Life" as an over 15-minute epic, but never mind. At the 45-second mark is an eerie solo that's just out of this world. Then after two minutes after that starts is an echoing riff progression, then almost two minutes after THAT starts is a stunning technical break. Nearly the latter half is just filled with otherworldly background ambience.
"Shed" booms right back in the action but gets more eerie and melodic over the brutal groove. "Personae Non Gratae" is short but I'm sure you won't survive headbanging to such a chaotic track. Same thing with "Dehumanization" which is probably the most brutal part of this suite. Once again, those two songs should've really fit into an entire 12-minute epic along with "Sum" which really SUMS up a lot from this album in the former half of the song. Shortly after the one-minute mark, we hear probably the best riff ever created by Meshuggah and any other band, along with a long scream by Kidman. And finally, nothing but soft ambient guitar work throughout the latter half.
So let me tell you, this is definitely NOT a bad album. And if you think it is bad, which is justifiable I guess, that's probably because you haven't appreciate what the album is all about and you haven't fully grasp what is really the best music to ever flow into your ears. Lyrics, riffs, ambience, and seamless suite sections, all in this monstrous djent album. One word: brilliant!
Favorites: The whole album, or if you just want separate tracks - The Paradoxical Spiral, Entrapment, Mind’s Mirrors, In Death (both parts), Sum
I wasn't originally thinking of reviewing this album because it's just a one-song 21-minute EP, but well, here I am. Time to take a break from my official/unofficial challenge journey for this featured release!
There are a few bands that have the idea of a making a single long song throughout an entire album thinking it would be a great as a Great American/European Novel. On the one hand, there's the fear of getting a crawling try of patience that would be much better lasting just 5 minutes instead of 50. On the other hand, a group can have so many ideas that can turn a single-song album in an ultimate masterpiece. The latter example is used in this release. This is I!
I begins with downtuned guitar that has almost the same tuning as the standard bass guitar, playing one note in constant drum marching. Not repetitive at all! The strange time-changing rhythm would get you pumped up and hanging onto your seat for the oncoming storm. Then after one and a half minutes, Jens Kidman unleashes a 20-second tortured scream. Then the song continues with heavy riffs and percussion, and vicious growls. Fredrik Thordendal does his first solo in the EP that's nicely dramatic. After those first hypnotizing 3 and a half minutes, there's a crushing breakdown with guitars and drums over shattered time signatures, followed by more of those vicious growls. At the 5:40 mark, Thordendal unleashes a chaotic solo assault with incessant notes flying everywhere alongside the inhuman rampage of accuracy from drummer Tomas Haake. There's some disturbing reverb of odd notes that abruptly transition from the chaos to a massive soft soundscape the back to the chaos again. The riffing that comes shortly after the 10 and a half minute mark is so f***ing heavy which is probably the only moment where you can properly headbang without getting lost in confusion. Then there's a strange section at the 12-minute point where Kidman starts whispering diabolically, followed by a guitar solo that sounds like a beehive orchestra. Eventually after another soft break of dark arpeggios, at the 17-minute point, we head into the twisted guitars and drums of Nothing, all in standard djent rhythm before closing with lengthy stretched feedback. Holy mammoth, this track is an unstoppable monolith!
"I" is a tremendous metal achievement for Meshuggah. It's a really long song that helped popularize djent. Almost none of the heavier extreme metal albums out there can beat the cerebral nature of this music. The perfect apocalyptic destruction would continue the EP's logical sequel Catch Thirtythree. Anyway, enjoy the masterpiece that is I!
Favorites: "I" (of course!)
This is it. This is definitely the album that has spawned one of the deepest, heaviest genres known to mankind...DJENT! Slower tempos and heavier groove than the band's previous thrash metal albums, with occasional jazz-infused moments, and more importantly, downtuned 7-string guitars (though 8-string guitars would not be used until the album's 2006 re-recording). Nothing is an album that really turned Meshuggah from NOTHING into SOMETHING!
Before I started listening to this band, I never realized how heavy, brutal, and overall good they are. This album, Nothing, will surely show you what I mean. Well the repetition is a little unnecessary, but the album is still cool nonetheless.
Jumping into the action straight away is the opening track "Stengah", a sick brutal song that can sting your eardrums harder and more pleasantly than a hundred wasps with the downtuned jarring staccato guitars locked in by the tight drums. Then the vocals come in a big round of hardcore shouting. That's rather excellent! "Rational Gaze" is another killer song with a paradoxical lyrical theme. "Perpetual Black Second" is just amazing and a potential staple to the band's live set, with some of the heaviest riffs any band could create, bringing the odd time signatures to a new peak for the band.
Rising from staccato power chords, a new uncommon style of riffing really reminisces many bass techniques, evident on "Closed Eyed Visuals". Same with "Glints Collide", with that type of riffing at its clearest, sounding almost as if the album was entirely recorded with bass guitars, while the guitars stay notable with its super heavy crushing tone. The solo really sounds alien-like, bringing a twisted form of jazz fusion. "Organic Shadows" is once again chaotic, but it doesn't have a lot of sense in instrumentation. As technical as the band usually gets, the habit of repeating chords at that point is...well, repetitive. The vocals are still fine there but sound a little constipated. The opening riff of "Straws Pulled at Random" is really thrashy hardcore-sounding similar to The Dillinger Escape Plan, and I love that!
Drummer Tomas Haake's clean robotic vocals in "Spasm" sound bizarre yet still cool. Haake's robotic vocals return in a small narration in "Nebulous". The only big difference for this song in the 2006 version is, it's slightly slower. "Obsidian" has a cool clean opening, before crashing into a small simple riff repeated so many times. The 2006 version is twice as long as the original version, extending both the front and back. Instead of fading out at 4:20, it goes on until 8:35 and ends abruptly.
In conclusion, it's not easy comparing this album to later Meshuggah albums, nor would it be easy to listen to entirely with a couple songs being a little repetitive. But after a few listens, then you would know that the band discovered a new gem that is djent. Even when not needed, you should buy this album. This is the beginning of djent!
Favorites: Rational Gaze, Perpetual Black Second, Closed Eye Visuals, Straws Pulled at Random, Spasm
Meshuggah started off with technical thrash in Contradictions Collapse, then they eliminated most of the thrash with a more progressive sound in Destroy Erase Improve. This album, Chaosphere can be considered a transition point between the band's first two albums and their next one, Nothing. Almost completely departing from their thrash style and focusing more on their later poly-rhythmic technical groove sound, yet still haven't invented the genre that would soon be djent.
This is another solid Meshuggah album. Pretty much everything they've done, existent and upcoming, have been thrown together into aggressive technical brutality. Some of their most chaotic material can be found here!
The first track "Concatenation" begins the album in a chaotic bang with barraging staccato riffs and glorious drumming. Then Jens Kidman's vicious vocals come in. Guitar god Fredrik Thordendal pulls off a killer R2D2-like solo. Then it's time for the album's best song, "New Millennium Cyanide Christ", with drummer Tomas Haake's shining lyric writing. Those lyrics aren't as complicated as they are clever. That's my second favorite Meshuggah song behind "Future Breed Machine"!
"Corridor of Chameleons" continues the excellent riffing worth headbanging. Just don't listen to this song at work when listening to music with headphones while working, or else it would be awkward headbanging in business meetings. "Neurotica" has quite a tribal groove, especially in the beat, and it would really get stuck banging in your head. But if that doesn't happen, at least we have "The Mouth Licking What We've Bled", one of the most incredible, heaviest works to listen to. I dare you to listen to this song with speakers at full volume without blowing off the doors and windows of your house or car. The mesmerizing guitar solo clearly establishes Thordendal as a musical genius!
"Sane" is just INSANE, continuing the complex riff-wrath. "The Exquisite Machinery Of Torture" is a different yet gloriously wild experience. And the final track of the original album, "Elastic" is a kick-A closer with one of the best jazz-infused solos the band has ever done, but the strangest thing in the album is that song's outro. The real track ends at 4:13, then it suddenly changes into single hit drums and atmospheric guitars almost following those drum hits. Then it ends right on the 6-minute mark and a weird reverb sound comes in and gets louder and louder, and just when you thought your eardrums were gonna burst...it quiets down, and right when you thought, "Whew, glad that's over," suddenly at 11:18, the FIRST 4 SONGS PLAY ALTOGETHER AT ONCE!!!! And they all keep playing before abruptly stopping at exactly 15:30!!! Now THAT'S chaotic!! Don't ever listen to that if you're hearing-sensitive! At least the Japanese pressing bonus track, "Unanything" is a calm vibe-filled outro after all that ravaging madness.
If you're a metalhead who prefers more technical brutality and wants something extraordinary, Chaosphere is the album for you. But if you're like my mom who refuses to listen to such a chaotic sound, then stay away....
Favorites: New Millennium Cyanide Christ, The Mouth Licking What You've Bled, The Exquisite Machinery Of Torture
After the technical thrash sound of Contradictions Collapse, Meshuggah had their breakthrough success with their second album Destroy Erase Improve. They DESTROYED and ERASED their original sound from their first album and IMPROVED it into a more industrial-influenced progressive thrash style with more guitar strings attached. Destroy Erase Improve is what many metalheads believe to be one of the best metal albums in 1995 along with Fear Factory's Demanufacture, and with this album, Meshuggah has packed much more of their brutal technical force. Pretty much every song here has the off-meter alien-like guitar playing of Fredrik Thordendal, precise drumming of Tomas Haake, and Jens Kidman shouting like an arrogant drill sergeant.
Unlike later albums which have each song seamlessly blend to another constantly and have a thick groove, Destroy Erase Improve is, a little like Contradictions Collapse, still focused on thrash metal. That does NOT mean this band is thrash! Well they used to be thrash before this album, but this is the start of the sound that would later be djent. The guitar tone and soloing here is never really parallel to thrash but still masterful progressively.
The chaos begins with "Future Breed Machine" which starts with a bit of an apocalyptic atmosphere that sounds like robotic machines taking over the world; industrial noises for almost 30 seconds, then a piercing siren over a total headbanging onslaught. "Beneath" starts with a brief ambient intro, and the rest of the song is nothing too special but still enjoyable. "Soul Burn" begins with some pounding groove before leading you into a wild direction of furious guitar riff-wrath. Jens Kidman sounds great here especially in the chorus where his syncopated vocals give the song more rhythm. Nice solo after the midway point!
"Transfixion" has more thrash and less groove than most other songs in the album, continuing the brutal riffs and heavy lead work. That song, along with "Vanished" have amazing drum work rolling like a bullet-train. However, the speeding bullet-train hits an unexpected halt with the instrumental "Acrid Placidity". Wow, an incredible ambient interlude! You might expect Kidman to sing nicely like Burton C. Bell in some Fear Factory ballads, but nope. I guess Kidman just wanted to stay shouting in the other tracks.
"Inside What's Within Behind" continues the chaos, beginning with a pulsating rhythm then kicks in some crazy drum rhythms that would be an essential part of the band's career. Then after the midway point, a soft yet spooky break comes in before the heavy ending. "Terminal Illusions" is just filled with thrash within the riffs and drums that would cause you to head-bang until your head gets flung off. "Suffer in Truth" is the most cohesive track of the bunch. There isn't as much staccato as the previous songs, and it is more of a groove track with steady rhythm. "Sublevels" is softer and has less of Kidman's vocals but also has the spoken monotone of Tomas Haake. There's a good soft guitar solo towards the end of the first half, and the song ends with the last bit of heavy strength from the screams and the riffs.
This is an excellent album, and many of its moments are more vile and twisted than most death metal albums, though still lyrically clean. It's a nice balance of thrash/death metal aggression with the thick, heavy atmosphere of progressive metal, leaving you struggling through a huge riff and rhythm exchange. The djent sound is rising!
Favorites: Future Breed Machine, Transfixion, Inside What's Within Behind
All this time I keep thinking I've completed my Meshuggah reviewing journey when I haven't. I've reviewed all 8 of their studio albums so far, but realized what was missing is the one-track epic EP I. Then after that, I recently realized the importance of one more EP... None! It's clear how important this EP is, as much as some of their later albums, so now it's time to review this little proto-djent offering.
Released in 1994, None marks the beginning of Meshuggah's transitional point. After the dissonant technical thrash of Contradictions Collapse, the band started adding dark progressive groove metal to their sound with a blend of fast thrashy riffing and monstrous mid-paced groove, with one of those elements as each song's basis.
The opening track "Humiliative" is the best example of those elements and a great early hint of the djent sound Meshuggah would build. The relentless tune "Sickening" grinds through Meshuggah's industrial/groove/thrash metal fusion that is hinted in their breakthrough album Destroy Erase Improve (so why is the EP included in the reissue for Contradictions Collapse instead!?). There's weird synth ambience showing up at some point in that song, but I like it.
"Ritual" is a much different song, with vocalist Jens Kidman experimenting with more melodic clean singing, which initially reminds some of Alice in Chains. Then the heavy grooves return with jazzy leads and drumming machinery. The more varied "Gods of Rapture" has startling soloing by guitarist Fredrik Thordendal.
"Aztec Two-Step" is the most experimental song in the EP, and if you thought there would be a 10-minute epic, you'd be dead wrong. The actual song ends at around 5 and a half minute mark, then after 5 minutes of silence, you would be startled with a short shotgun rhythm at the last second, like at the end of Gaza's debut album.
None marks the first release to have Meshuggah's focus on distinctive drums and interplaying guitars that would define the sound of Destroy Erase Improve and subsequent albums. Riffs and rhythms play a repetitive course while staying varied. There's a bit of a nu metal feel, but thankfully they never stuck to that path. The true Meshuggah style is far more interesting and this EP None starts it all. A strong early highlight before beginning the big buildup in Destroy Erase Improve!
Favorites: "Humiliative", "Sickening", "Gods of Rapture"
Ah Meshuggah, the inventors of djent, a genre that is extremely laughable by the metal community. Some of those people don't think it's a valid genre, let alone a metal genre. Even the Metal Archives don't consider djent metal enough to be on that website, and the only reason this band is in that site is because of this album. EXCUSE ME!? Djent is a direct descendant of progressive metal! Are down-tuned guitar chords, syncopated riffs, and poly-metric soloing "not metal" to you? Or is it because of the majority of metalcore bands (instead of progressive metal) using the djent sound? I don't know... But for this album, Contradictions Collapse, the band did not invent djent yet and had more of a technical thrash style. I never really consider Contradictions Collapse the worst, it's actually a pretty fun listen. Creative solos, cool lyrics, and heavy moments that can be achieved without having to use breakdowns. Some of the most fun 90s thrash I've heard in a while!
Within the upward spiral-bound sound is the vocal style of Jens Kidman (NOT to be confused with that hot YouTube guitarist Lens Kidman, A.K.A. Elena Verrier). Shouting is kind of a necessary benefit in the rougher side of metal, and Jens does a really good job keeping his shouts in the same level as a drill sergeant and the Pantera singer Phil Anselmo. With Jens getting a lot better at shouting and hardcore-screaming, if the band moved on without any of the djent they invented, they would pretty much just be a technical death/hardcore band. Jens' vocals at that time really accompany the album really well. They're not totally bad, but the album's old-school feel can really cover up anything that would go wrong in a newer album. He can still hold up his screams well. Not bad, not bad...
"Paralyzing Ignorance" kicks off the album and the band in a catchy start, with charging riffs and an explosive chorus. "Erroneous Manipulation" is another infectious piece with literally the last minute of it being a triumphant harmonized guitar melody, one more shouting verse, and a glorious scream to end the song. But the lyrics there are absolutely ridiculous, and they're not even what is actually being sung. Lots of absurd animal metaphors!! What do they even mean!? But the lyrics in "Abnegating Cecity" are way better, having some possible references to heroin. The solos in that song along with "Internal Evidence" really establish a unique guitar blueprint, even back then.
"Qualms of Reality" has a perfect acoustic break, a smooth move before leading into the explosive mosh-inducing finale with more gang shouts. "We'll Never See the Day" has a killer headbanging riff in the first 30 seconds that can hit harder than a battering ram in the b*lls. But that sitar near the end though, like WHAT!?! "Greed" is an OK song, but it almost served as the album's title track, because the album was originally going to be titled "(All This Because of) Greed" before settling on its current name.
The acoustic intro in "Choirs of Devastation" sounds a little out of place, along with the spoken monotone of drummer Tomas Haake. But at least that's a more experimental song than the others here, with what may be some of the earliest examples of the djent sound that was yet to come. "Cadaverous Mastication" is a great final track, re-recorded from the band's 1989 demo EP. A thrashy example of proto-extreme metal, viciously hacking in with gang shouts and hammering riffs before a melodic ethereal solo. Then more speed and aggression picks up and finally the main melodic riff keeps playing until the song fades out. Probably the best Meshuggah song from that era!
Good vocals, bass, and guitars, with the drumming almost reaching its pinnacle! Mixing is a little grimy, giving the album more somewhat industrial production. Lyrics are good, but more lyrical assembly required. Overall, not a totally bad record at all! It's the thrashy calm before the djent storm....
Favorites: Paralyzing Ignorance, Qualms of Reality, Cadaverous Mastication
New Wave of American Heavy Metal is a metal movement that has been both shrinking and growing in the mid-2010s. A few new bands come in, some pioneering bands are still around like Lamb of God and Machine Head, and other old bands end up splitting up. Some of the split-up bands disband permanently like God Forbid (Why?! They were so awesome!) and Chimaira (except for a one-time reunion), while others like Bleeding Through have a few-year hiatus and come back with more material. Sadly, Shadows Fall had to go as well. Well, not go away forever, but just end up taking an extensive hiatus, with their last shows as late as 2015/2016. I really hope they reunite soon and, even better, reunite with former vocalist Phil Labonte, while still keeping Brian Fair, to play some songs from the Somber Eyes to the Sky era. Wishful thinking, but possible....
After the more intense and thrashy sound of Threads of Life and Retribution, Fire From the Sky is what I believe to be a full return to their successful equal balance to thrash and metalcore. Many of the band members have upped the game to insanely greater levels, including drummer Jason Bittner with his impressive double-bass rolls and brilliant blast beats. The songs themselves are up to their essential standards, putting together a well-arranged album.
The album starts off perfectly with "The Unknown" one of the best Shadows Fall songs ever. Shredding licks, a singable chorus, dual vocals, and superb song structuring, this song has them all and is how a lot of the album goes. "Divide and Conquer" continues this momentum with an infectious refreshing groove. Brian Fair has some dreadfully (in a clever way) pronounced vocals in "Weight of the World".
"Nothing Remains" shows a great obvious example of dual vocal attack. The title track is a more outstanding song with a dark atmosphere and touches of death metal, bringing back some melodeath memories. It equally balances out shred and groove, along with singing and screaming. "Save Your Soul" and "Blind Faith" has a good amount of speed, with the latter song being the album's over 6-minute epic. After the intro building up from acoustic to electric, the song unleashes a sonic wave after wave of melodious guitars and heated vocals.
"Lost Within" has some massive fast drumming matching the guitar shredding, really surpassing their earlier material. "Walk the Edge" is a great song, but unfortunately, their least original song too. Vocals range from raspy growls to heartened verses, but too many guitar riffs and solos stolen from Retribution. The drum work is a bit more mellow but still solid and thrashy. "The Wasteland" turns things around and is a great ending to the album and the band...for now.
This is a great record that works well with both long-time fans and new listeners. If the band decides to completely end and this becomes their final album, this would be the best to be saved for last. I just hope the band will still be around, they're truly a great band. Shadows Fall, please come back soon.....
Favorites: "The Unknown", "Nothing Remains", "Fire From the Sky", "Blind Faith", "Lost Within", "The Wasteland"
The previous Shadows Fall album, Threads of Life has a lot of thrash in their sound while keeping some metalcore. But for this one, their sixth studio effort (not including compilation Fallout From the War), Retribution, the sound is faster, heavier, and bringing back a bit more metalcore overpowering some of the thrash. Drummer Jason Bittner said that some songs are darker and angrier with lots of heaviness, crazy guitar, and "room for me to have some fun".
Shadows Fall is a band reigning in the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, together with other bands such as Lamb of God and Killswitch Engage. Shadows Fall might not sound like a mainstream metalcore band but those guys never want to sound like a clone band. They still maintain their thrash-metalcore originality! Retribution is an album to love 90%. Only one or two songs in the album have breakdowns but many songs here have decent clean singing, killer drumming, and riffs from their old-school melodic death metal past. Pretty much ever song has at least one fast, brutal, or melodic guitar solo, which solo lovers would surely enjoy.
Sometimes, interludes work better as the intro to an album instead of smack in the middle, like this album's intro, "The Path to Imminent Ruin". Then it segues into "My Demise", a memorable 7-minute track with good variations, including well-written lyrics, plus a deep acoustic part in the middle and a rare breakdown.
"Still I Rise" is less impressive and weaker than some songs but still has some good points thanks to its heaviness and more driven chorus. "War" is a sonic thrash rudiment that is clearly inspired by 80s Slayer. "King of Nothing" manages to be a heavier and more enjoyable song with an irresistible chorus featuring guest vocals by Lamb of God vocalist Randy Blythe. He's an awesome vocalist, so anyone here who doesn't like his vocals, as I quote from the lyrics, "Quit your f***ing crying!!" "The Taste of Fear" and "Picture Perfect" slump the most due to the attempted use of backing vocals that's a little too much, not that it would necessarily ruin the tracks, but still not fitting. At least the track between those two, "Embrace Annihilation", makes up for that with full-band gang vocals that fit much better.
The last two tracks are a couple more songs that surpass 6 minutes in length. The former song, "A Public Execution" once again unleashes the band's well-known heavy thrash metal/metalcore wrath, and is one of the best songs of the album, maybe one of the best by the band. The last track, "Dead and Gone" retains the heavy nature, but adds some more melodic backing vocals that aren't as prominent as the lead vocals here.
Retribution is a more polished album with good strong vocals. This is another thrash album with some more metalcore elements, despite the lack of good breakdowns, and has some brilliant solos like the ones from their good old days of melodeath. Shadows Fall fans would not be disappointed by this album. Automatically worth it!
Favorites: "My Demise", "War", "King of Nothing", "Embrace Annihilation", "A Public Execution", "Dead and Gone"
Shadows Fall had really brought themselves to fame with the thrash metalcore sound of their previous two albums, The Art of Balance and The War Within. But for this album, Threads of Life, the band decided to make their sound more thrashy while still keeping some metalcore. That's what Trivium kind of did with their third album The Crusade. So yeah, this is Shadows Fall's Crusade!
This release basically has a little more thrash than every bit of metalcore. The aggression overshadows the lightness. Some of the more thrashy parts include great riffs, blazing solos, pounding drums, and aggressive vocals. The headbanging riffs are faster and heavier than metalcore, although the song still have metalcore parts.
"Redemption" is a nice way to start the album with decent riffs. Songs "Burning the Lives" and "Storm Winds" are fine but don't exactly stand out with enough excitement. "Failure of the Devout" has a nice thrashy riff. That song, along with "Venomous", both have memorable and awesome solos that I love to hear and any guitarist can play.
"Another Hero Lost" is a good way to break up the intensity of the album. A hard rock ballad single with good lyrics, great vocals, and a crushing solo, it was written in memory of Brain Fair's late cousin, a soldier in Iraq. "Final Call" is a typical metalcore song with the type of intro, vocals, and breakdowns usually found in metalcore. I like this song and metalcore in general, but it doesn't fit well with this thrash album. Now about "Dread Uprising", have you heard its solo?!? Listen to it, it's so melodically brutal!!
"The Great Collapse" is a short classical-sounding interlude with a nice atmosphere. "Just Another Nightmare" has some bass that is sometimes heard, sometimes lost. "Forevermore" has an acoustic interlude as awesome as the rest of the song right before ending the album with one more chorus and riff-powered outro.
Overall, despite the sound being more thrashy than metalcore, this album is still worth it and further proves Shadows Fall's dominance in the New Wave of American Heavy Metal. They still manage to keep metalcore drilling into listeners' ears deeper than the earth's core. Even with that album's thrashy sound, luckily it seems like Shadows Fall would eventually be going in a better direction with their next release Retribution loading up some faster heavier thrash-metalcore than before. See ya in the next review....
Favorites: "Redemption", "Failure of the Devout", "Venomous", "Another Hero Lost", "Dread Uprising", "Forevermore"
Although I think all their best material has been crammed into the previous Shadows Fall album The Art of Balance, the real success came in with their fourth album The War Within, selling over 300,000 copies worldwide and becoming the best selling album by both the band and their label Century Media Records. This has very well been a turning point in the band's history!
Originally, Shadows Fall had a melodic death metal sound in their songs, but I guess becoming more of a thrash metalcore band has totally paid off. This album really does sound as metal as what many bands in the metal side of metalcore would do, but I still think it doesn't top off the thrash metalcore glory of The Art of Balance.
"The Light That Blinds" opens the album perfectly with a short acoustic intro, then the song itself follows with heavy, pounding rhythms, awesome guitar work, and a memorable catchy chorus. The following track, "Enlightened by the Cold" is one of my personal favorites, showing a lot of heavy riffing, incredible soloing, and another catchy chorus, all in just barely over 3 minutes. "Act of Contrition" has an excellent riff in the middle.
"What Drives the Weak" is another catchy track with some clean guitar breaks with, quoted from the lyrics, "a controlled dose of tranquillity". "Stillness" has a modern taste that should appeal to the youngsters (Did I just say the word "youngsters"? I ain't old!). "Inspiration on Demand" is a heavy but more mid-tempo song with some moving, beautiful ballad-like verses that flashback to the title track of their previous album. "The Power of I and I" is indeed a powerful track with pulverizing rhythms. "Ghosts of Past Failures" is a pretty good song but does not sound very memorable and convincing, nor have as much power as the previous songs.
Things get more brilliant and much less anti-climatic toward the end of the album, with the next-to-last track "Eternity is Within", another very powerful song with outstanding drum work and awesome guitar solos. As if the acoustic melody that started "The Light That Blinds" wasn't enough, the last song "Those Who Cannot Speak" starts with another acoustic intro then immediately crashes into a song that hearkens back to the band's melodic death metal past. This song is slightly similar to "A Fire in Babylon" (including that song's prelude), but with faster and heavier structure and solos. A great way to bring this album to a close!
The War Within may have been a slight letdown compared to the awesomeness of The Art of Balance, but it still has some much better stuff than the band's younger melodeath selves. I can see why this album is so darn popular. I would recommend this to any true metalhead. Go get this album! You'll never regret it....
Favorites: "Enlightened by the Cold", "What Drives the Weak", "Inspiration on Demand", "The Power of I and I", "Eternity is Within", "Those Who Cannot Speak"
After the melodeath/metalcore sound of their first 2 albums, Shadows Fall decided to switch to the thrash metalcore they would later be known for, with their third album The Art of Balance. This is honestly a little similar to Trivium's move to a more thrashy sound on their third album the Crusade. One of the bigger differences is, the new thrashy sound is highly enjoyable and fits very well with the band, and that caused the band to reach a higher peak of fame and completely abandon their old melodeath sound. This new original style is pretty much what Shadows Fall fans are into now!
While Somber Eyes to the Sky and Of One Blood display a great flair of harmonizing guitar work and crushing riff wrath of Swedish-sounding melodic death metal, the guitar work in The Art of Balance really helped build the band's sound with the speed and rhythm of American thrash metal. Jon Donais throws in some sweet elements of technical soloing together with commanding riffs. A couple acoustic interludes were put into the album with very serene soundscapes as a good way to take a break from the extreme intensity. The band's sound has reached new heights with its thrash metalcore being found as "the perfect balance between melody and aggression". New drummer Jason Bittner lays down some awesome drumming you would typically hear in thrash metal and Brian's Fair voice has really taken consistent distinctive shape.
The album kicks off in a vicious bang with "Idle Hands", one of the most heaviness-focused songs on the album, containing death metal like riffs on guitars and bass, along with a Megadeth-inspired solo. "Thoughts Without Words" is another heavy song with thrash riffs and a very memorable chorus. There's also some good harmonized solo shredding and a killer breakdown at the end. "Destroyer of Senses" is faster and more thrashy than those first two songs, but a little simplistic and repetitive. Brain Fair does some guttural screaming in the slow sludgy part. "Casting Shade" is a beautiful, melodic, acoustic interlude that works as nice break from all that sheer aggression.
"Stepping Outside the Circle" is one of the best songs of the album with lots of amazing thrash. Riffs, time changes, gang vocals, all nothing but pure 100% thrash, with a capital TH. But at least there's a nice clean part and nice soloing. The title track is an epic ballad-like but still thrashy song. The song gets soft at first with emotional clean vocals, then the heavier riffs come out with Fair's brutal vocals. Then a clean part comes in along with a great solo. "Mystery of One Spirit" is another thrashy song with a lot of emphasis on guitar. The lyrics are really cool here and the screams sometimes get a little black metal snarly. Then things get kicked up with an epic power metal solo. "The Idiot Box" is another heavy thrash song with heavy riffs and angry political lyrics. The drumming works really well, especially in the cool breakdown at the end.
"Prelude to Disaster" is another acoustic interlude, and as the title would imply, would set you up for a disastrously awesome thrash epic. That epic is "A Fire in Babylon", an astonishing attempt in making a 7-minute epic (probably the longest song ever made by the band). It begins with some crazy pinch harmonics. The vocals vary a lot (clean, growling, screaming, shouting), all fitting perfectly in pure greatness. The bass sometimes does a counter melody and there's some heavy and melodic soloing. This is basically an amazing complex power/thrash metal song, and it is the best on the album and probably the best non-single song by the band. Then the album ends with a cover of the Pink Floyd hit "Welcome to the Machine". The original guitar part of the song even has a heavy part put together. There's even a synth that is rarely used by the band, along with mostly clean harmonizing vocals. After the song fades out, a door slam is the final thing heard in the album. Someone leaving the studio already?
Shadows Fall has made a great respected move to a new original modern sound after getting caught in a heated debate of melodeath. This release has clearly established them as part of the new wave of American heavy metal with their thrash metalcore sound. I'm a fan of Shadows Fall among other metal bands, and I believe this album really shows what the band is capable of. Hail to one of the NWOAHM kings!
Favorites: "Thoughts Without Words", "Stepping Outside the Circle", "The Art of Balance", "Mystery of One Spirit", "The Idiot Box", "A Fire in Babylon"
As a fan of modern metalcore/extreme metal bands such as Trivium, Lamb of God, and (of course) Shadows Fall, the albums I think are the most fun to review are the transitional ones, the midway point between 2 different styles, like for example, between melodic death metal and metalcore. Some of those albums beginning that specific transition while still being mostly melodeath include This Darkened Heart by All That Remains and this album, Of One Blood. Speaking of All That Remains, as mentioned in the last review, the previous lead vocalist Phil Labonte left the band in 1998 to form All That Remains. His replacement is Brain Fair, sometimes known as the "male metalcore Rapunzel" because of his extra long dreadlocks.
The production in Of One Blood has improved but it's still sort of in its poor muddy state. Despite that, this is still a great album filled with mostly brutal melodic death metal-ish nostalgia while slowly beginning its transition to strictly metalcore. One of those hints of the band starting to make their move to metalcore is Fair's vocals, which are as intense as death metal growling but harsh enough to appeal to fans of the heavier side of metalcore. The riffing really brings on the genuine melodic hardcore/metal grit while the drumming is still what you would usually in thrash/death metal.
The album begins with the intro "Pain Glass Vision" which is basically a 45-second swaying sound similar to the intro of the At the Gates album Slaughter of the Soul (another inspiration for the band's original melodeath sound). Then it segues to "Crushing Belial", breaking into drilling electric guitars, including a nice lead solo over soft acoustic guitars. The title track is one of my favorite songs of the album. It has a long, complicated solo that would've fit well in a Dragonforce song.
"The First Noble Truth" has a lot you would expect in a melodic metalcore song. 3 songs from Somber Eyes to the Sky were re-recorded for this album. While these songs now have Fair's vocals, it still keeps Labonte vocals in some parts. Those songs (along with their closest genres) are Fleshold (extreme metalcore), Revel in My Loss (melodic death metal) and To Ashes (true thrash metal). "Root Bound Apollo" is another of my favorite songs in the album with a fast searing Metallica-like solo. This was actually originally a song by Fair's former band Overcast, but it ended up in this album. It would later be re-recorded on the Overcast album Reborn to Kill Again.
"Revel in My Loss", a melodeath song with barely any clean singing, now has a 20-second solo at the end that was missing in the original version. The last 3 songs of the album; "Montauk", "To Ashes", and "Serenity" have dual-lead thrash/death metal solos, with "To Ashes" having an acoustic solo before its electric solo. "Serenity" is another one of my favorites and a good way to end the album.
This is some good melodic death metal infused into the metalcore of the band's later endeavors. A must have for metalcore listeners who want a more brutal underground sound. Of One Blood brings back memories of when the metalcore scene was first rising. Once again, a solid melodeath-ish metalcore release in the roots of heavy metal and one of Shadows Fall's finest hours (or at least 46 minutes)!
Favorites: "Of One Blood", "The First Noble Truth", "Root Bound Apollo", "Revel in My Loss", "To Ashes", "Serenity"
Want me to tell you another one of my favorite metal bands? You guessed it... All That Remains! LOL, you thought I was going to say "Shadows Fall". Well I like Shadows Fall, yes, they're another favorite band of mine. But why did I mention All That Remains? Because that band's lead singer Phil Labonte was the lead vocalist of Shadows Fall for their first album Somber Eyes to the Sky. He left in 1998 to form All That Remains. Torn between deciding which band's albums to review first, Shadows Fall and All That Remains, I soon decided to start with Shadows Fall. So yeah, let's begin!
Somber Eyes to the Sky sounds quite different from their future material. This album has more aggressive melodic death metal elements alongside the metalcore sound they would later use. There are some similarities between this and Gothenburg legends Dark Tranquillity and In Flames at the time. Phil Labonte, the vocalist mentioned above, unleashes more aggressive death growls in this album than both the later Shadows Fall albums with Brian Fair and Labonte's work in All That Remains. The bass is sometimes higher than the guitars, and the album has poor production, but the songs really make up for all that.
"Revel in My Loss" opens with a beautiful nature-sound like intro in which the interlude "Lead Me Home" probably should've been put before it as the album intro. After this song's intro, it leads to the song itself, a great melodic death metal song with killer riffs and vocals. Too bad the original version did not have the solo the Of One Blood remake has, but the song is still great. "Pure" is another great melodeath song, probably one of the best in the album. It has a lot of good riffs and leads but sometimes they can barely be heard over the bass, which is a little annoying.
The aforementioned interlude "Lead Me Home" is a nice short acoustic song. This almost reminds me of that Trivium interlude "A View of Burning Empires". I bet Trivium must have been inspired by this interlude to make their own. One of the bigger differences between the two is, "Lead Me Home" has more prominent violin along with lead guitar and they sound pretty cool when played together. Then there's "To Ashes", an incredible song and probably the best on the album. The guitars and vocals both alternate between clean and distorted. For any All That Remains fans wondering, that's rhythm guitarist Matt Bachand doing the clean vocals, not Labonte who doesn't start doing clean vocals until the switch to metalcore for All That Remains. The guitar work on this song is great too.
"Nurture" is...well, 3 words: average filler track. "Fleshold" is an OK song with their later metalcore sound, but the guitar riffs are too simplistic and repetitive. Not really one of the best. "Eternal" and "Suffer the Season" are two more good melodeath songs, though not too special. "Somber Angel" is another incredible song. The first minute is a beautiful acoustic intro, then the rest is pure melodic death metal mayhem. The good closing song "Lifeless" has what might be the best solo on the album.
Shadows Fall fans should check this out if they want to hear what their older stuff sounds like, especially those who like Swedish death metal-like music more than the band's newer thrash-metalcore sound. An amazing album, not the band's greatest, but a good, humble beginning....
Favorites: "Revel in My Loss", "To Ashes", "Eternal", "Suffer the Season", "Somber Angel", "Lifeless"
Demon Hunter have got one of the most legendary metalcore bands out there. Why wouldn't they be? 20 years ago, the band started after the demise of Training for Utopia, and now they're one of the most successful bands signed by Solid State Records. They even have not just a 9th album but also a 10th album, and each of those two new albums have 10 tracks plus a bonus track, totaling 22 released in a single day!! These albums are War and Peace (reviewed in that order for chronology)!
Their previous album Outlive was the softest Demon Hunter album to date. There were still some heavy punches but more hard rock clean singing than in previous albums. War makes up for most of that! It has more heavy and heavier tracks than Outlive while still having hard rock songs with clean vocals. You might it's odd that one album has mostly heavy songs with a few soft ones and the other album has mostly soft songs with a few heavy ones but then you realize that's what Demon Hunter keeps doing in their albums. So while War is the heavier side of the book, it's the more well-rounded side too.
One of the album's greatest highlights is the opener "Cut to Fit" returning to the groove-metalcore from 10 years ago. "On My Side" also keeps up the metalcore aspect with drilling guitars and drum kicks alongside Ryan Clark's rock vocals. A great example of the band's long-lasting musicianship "Close Enough", especially in the verses rather than the chorus. If it wasn't for the growling and clean singing, those verses would sound like old-school metal bands like Metallica and Pantera. That is because of the main riff and guitar tone. The chorus is actually one of my favorites here, bringing it back to the usual Demon Hunter sound with driving guitars, bass, and drums meeting together with Ryan's clean vocals. So excellent!
"Unbound" has a nice dose of metalcore. "Grey Matter" is a cleaner highlight. "The Negative" is excellent, showing more of the vicious growls/screams in ways never usually heard from the band. Same with "Ash", which flashbacks to the thrash metal of early Metallica.
"No Place for You Here" continues the groove-metalcore which reminds me of Lamb of God in the heavy growling verses. "Leave Me Alone" is the longest song of this album and the entire War and Peace duo. Once again the band blends the melodic and heavy elements you've already known from Demon Hunter. "Lesser Gods" completes the War package with everything Demon Hunter fans know and love.
It's great when Demon Hunter comes out of the soft shadows for new heaviness, and that's what they did in War. As a heavier metalhead, I love War much more than Peace. So if you can only choose one of those two albums, I personally recommend buying this one. But either way, there's no wrong direction in this war!
Favorites: "Cut to Fit", "Close Enough", "Grey Matter", "The Negative", "Lesser Gods"
Once again, Demon Hunter has made an impressive 20-year 10-album history. What appeals to listeners is, while some songs have screaming/growling vocals, at least one song in each album focuses completely on clean singing, so that listeners who don't like rough vocals can find a song in each album that doesn't have any roughness. Those listeners would be lucky in albums Extremist, Outlive, and Peace (this one!).
Peace is the other side of Demon Hunter's recent 2-album concept War and Peace, totaling 20 tracks in the entire set (22 in the special versions). Peace is the softer, more melodic side of the duo, and let me just say that I actually like rough vocals in metal. So don't expect me to give a super thumbs-up to this album.
The opener, "More Than Bones" is a nice kick-off, being a well-paced tune that gives you a good rock anthem punch. The lyrics are about God's promise of salvation and the idea of continuing life after death. Then the album ventures into the less memorable "I Don't Believe You". Decent song, but not as varied as the band's past. In "Loneliness", there are times when just when it sounds like there's gonna be screaming vocals or even a breakdown, it doesn't happen! However, it's nice when the song focuses on Ryan Clark's clean vocals. I'm surprised that Peace has its own title track but War doesn't. Either way, the title track shows the band's great typical composition. It flows nicely through a catchy chorus and nice bridge. Easily a highlight!
Demon Hunter has really experimented in new things, like "When the Devil Come" being a well-designed Western-like theme similar to Johnny Cash. It can be hard getting that chorus out of your mind. "Time Only Takes" is personally a timeless melodic Demon Hunter classic. "Two Ways" is closer to hard rock while leaning towards metal.
"Recuse Myself" is a song that would fit well in Ryan's electronic side-project NYVES, as a distinct synth-focused track. "Bet My Life" is probably one of the heaviest songs in the instrumentation of this softer melodic album. The album closes with maybe the best ballad Demon Hunter has done in a long time, "Fear is Not My Guide", sounding a bit familiar in vibe to one of those overrated hit ballads by Queensryche.
If you only have the money to buy one of the two new Demon Hunter albums, which one would you choose? I would personally recommend War, not only because it's heavier but also because it's more musically balanced and memorable. Peace would fit better as part of the War and Peace set rather than on its own. Despite its flaws and lighter sound, Peace still has a few stellar tunes that any Demon Hunter fan can enjoy. Not their best album but certainly a good one to please fans of Demon Hunter and hard rock. As for the heavier fans, I suggest listening to this album after War. Well, that's all the Demon Hunter albums for me to review for now! Peace out....
Favorites: "More Than Bones", "Loneliness", "Peace", "When the Devil Come", "Time Only Takes", "Fear is Not My Guide"
Demon Hunter has been a big part of the Christian metal community for a long time. When they released their 8th album Outlive in 2017, that year also marked the 15th anniversary of their self-titled debut. There's only one original member still in the band and that its founder and creative force, vocalist Ryan Clark. Their previous album Extremist is a great album but it was underwhelming for Demon Hunter fans who fear an electronic change of sound.
With Outlive, that scenario is out the skyscraper window! This album is more in-between, not as heavy as True Defiance and not as diverse as Extremist with a few electronic elements that overpower their usual sound. Outlive is slightly different from other Demon Hunter albums, standing alone with brighter tone.
"Trying Times" starts slower, NOT ballad-slow, just a slow anthem. This track contains marching drums that would nearly make you shout "WE WILL, WE WILL ROCK YOU!!" until the electronic ambiance starts rising and the vocals appear. Then at one minute left, the guitar enters the picture. That intro leads perfectly into "Jesus Wept", a short verse in the bible that Christian kids first learn, but with a different personal twist in the script as Ryan Clark screams "I'M WHY JESUS WEPT!" Lead guitarist Patrick Judge performs a killer solo. Then it flows to catchy rock-ish tune "Cold Winter Sun" (not to confused with epic death metal band Wintersun), which is fine except for the generic chorus and structure. "Died in My Sleep" had some mixed reception as a single. That sounds right because despite the rising appeal, it's still not the best in the album.
"Half as Dead" is a solid jam with tough lyrics. "Cold Blood" returns to the metal feel from earlier, this time with a clean-sung chorus. Halfway through, we switch gears to the alt-metal half-ballad "One Step Behind". Continuing the rock vibe, "Raining Down" sounds like a song you might expect Disciple.
"The End" sounds metal in the verse and breakdown, despite the rest of that song just sounding like straightforward rock. "One Less" levels up the intensity and is one of the only songs to be truly metalcore. The high death screams in the chorus really set the song apart from the melodic majority of this album. "Patience" starts with 30 seconds of piano before beginning the dominating rock-ish sound you were waiting patiently for. What really stands out is bright chorus surrounding the extreme verses. "Slight the Odds" starts with symphonic strings that fade out for the guitars to fade in. An awkward DJ-like transition but as the song goes on, you'll see more of the band's bright side.
The heavier Demon Hunter fans wanting more metal just like in True Defiance would be disappointed. The majority of Outlive leans towards the rock side while still being considered metal. There are heavy moments, soft moments, and in between, lots of melodic moments. While still keeping the key signature in minor (mostly B-minor), the band has experimented with major chords for a happier tone in some songs. Demon Hunter still has their heavier metal side with a couple great aggressive songs, but I think the band still has enough metal to continue having their albums put in this website. After releasing the slightly softer Extremist, Outlive shows the bands experimenting with electronic and older rock elements. Despite all that, this album is still a solid release sounding more different the previous one. Demon Hunter still exists as the same band. The results aren't always lovable, but they are something new. Before we get to the next step of their career, Outlive is a nice album to enjoy in the meantime....
Favorites: "Jesus Wept", "Half as Dead", "Cold Blood", "The End", "One Less", "Patience"
Some bands have the fear of becoming a failure when they first start, but they conquer their fear and enter a long career where they're never capable of failing. Their sound gets worked out and within a few years, released several strongly received albums that motivate them to continue their refined craft. One of those bands is Demon Hunter! Active for 20 years as of this review, they've gained international presence and have a versatile metalcore sound with thrash songs and introspective ballads.
When the band released their seventh album Extremist, Demon Hunter fans knew that this album would some extreme diversity going. And they've been right! Every song has a different identity from one another and are never too similar.
"Death" opens the album with strange foreign chanting over a rumbling dissonant buildup that sounds almost like a metal remix of something from Audiomachine or Two Steps From Hell. After that, the song becomes a slow death-doom-like head-banger with snarled lyrics of vicious hatred ("Just who do you think I am?! I AM DEATH!!") that would traumatize the young and weak into hiding in their blanket for many weeks. The second track "Artificial Light" is the first song Demon Hunter fans would hear from this album when it was the album's lead single. Another heavy song! "What I’m Not" continues the heavy vein of the previous two tracks before greater interest comes in the next track. "The Last One Alive" demonstrates the ability Demon Hunter has to sound rock-ish while still being as heavy as the previous tracks. It's a brilliant composition shows you what the band does the best. There's never any descent into harsh vocal chaos, but the atmosphere massively overpowers anything chaotic. A definite example of brilliant composition and overpowering atmosphere all in a single song!
Demon Hunter's love for ballads continues its display in "I Will Fail You". However, the band's later ballads aren't usually as good as in their earlier albums. Not only that, the bridge is written better than the chorus that are usually what the band focuses more on. And by better, I mean so much better that it might be one of the more notable parts of the album, with that pattern repeating in later albums. Returning to the heavy side, "One Last Song" is an energetic hardcore song with a sing-along chorus. It has similar composition and structure to "The Last One Alive" but with higher thrash emphasis. "Cross to Bear" is much heavier, the heaviest song here, sounding as heavy as some of the heavy songs from the previous two albums with the most full-on savage lyrics you would ever hear from this band. "Hell Don’t Need Me" is slower and sludgier that's interesting but doesn't do anything new.
"In Time" is another somewhat interesting heavy song and the longest in this album's standard edition at just almost exactly 5 minutes. "Beyond Me" really packs some punches into your mouth. It's just filled with screams and cleans over the typical Demon Hunter composition and structure. "Gasoline" is a glorious ballad with a climatic breakdown that perfectly fits. "The Heart of a Graveyard" is probably the second non-ballad song to close an album after "The Wrath of God" from Storm the Gates of Hell, this song being much stronger and ending the album in energetic pace. With a synthesized intro and the vocals being entirely clean, it can almost be considered a pop/rock-ish song. That song deserves some radio play!
In a way, Extremist has Demon Hunter's usual diverse mix of extreme and melody. You can still hear some similarities to their older material and a couple songs lose the plot of the concept and the sound. However, this album shows a definite variety of stylistic choices committed to the band. Pretty much every track from beginning to end has been constructed from multiple influences and styles flowing much smoother than a waterfall down a tall mountain. You would need to listen to every song if you want a complete diverse experience. You want anything from this band? They got it right here....
Favorites: "Death", "The Last One Alive", "Beyond Me", "Gasoline", "Heart of a Graveyard"
The presence of Demon Hunter is strong and comforting in the metal world today. Unlike some bands who emerge and then disappear after a couple years, Demon Hunter stayed alive to make their 6th album, 12 years after their formation. Through their sound-changing years, they're still keeping their general consistency. Normally, bands who keep being consistent would end up becoming stale, but not this band, proven by their sixth release, True Defiance!
You know when a member of a band says that their next album would be their "most aggressive one to date", when it's only true half the time? That sounds about right when vocalist Ryan Clark made that claim because in most of the album, the lyrics are more aggressive than the music. Sure the album is still heavy but not as frantically energetic as their previous album The World is a Thorn. True Defiance makes up for that with its stylistic consistency. It's not as experimental as The World is a Thorn which came out as excellent while having one unfortunate song and one bizarre song that fortunately don't bring down its perfection. True Defiance is less mixed and more straight in the approach of harsh verses and melodic choruses. Giving the guitars more solid strength is Patrick Judge and newest member Jeremiah Scott. There are excellent solos, more than in previous albums, while still having A Plea For Purging-like metalcore riffs and a breakdown. This album is simple, but simply amazing!
Album opener "Crucifix" has all you can hope for in a Demon Hunter song; trembling bass, powerful chords, fast blunt-force drums, and lyrics about the vile world. The fast extreme metal guitar riffs are more prevalent than anything else Demon Hunter could've done. Wonderful! The vocals work best in "God Forsaken", containing furious verse breakdowns while staying clean in the melodic choruses. "My Destiny" also has passionate beautiful choruses surrounding chaotic verses. The band's love for groove metal can be found in the heavy mid-tempo "Wake".
"Tomorrow Never Comes" is an excellent ballad that sounds intense while staying melodic. The Christian tension in both the music and the culture addressed in the lyrics can be found in "Someone to Hate". Another groove track, "This I Know" is a song with elements the earliest listeners might already know from their debut, this time with more impact. The moody acoustic interlude "Means to an End" isn't worth a lot, but still nice.
"We Don't Care" sounds like a Christian battle song of apathy, where Christians don't care if the world around them is condemned by sin. A heavy song with a heavy theme! "Resistance" continues the battle-ready attitude while having the band's traditional song structure. The haunting standard edition closer "Dead Flowers" is a soft ballad that once again offers the lighter side of the band as a sweet ending after all that heaviness. So after that closing ballad in the standard edition, what is left? A couple bonus tracks in the deluxe edition, that's what, starting with the heavy yet dramatic "What is Left". The second and last bonus track, "I Am a Stone" sounds like a smoother closer than "Dead Flowers", this time being just a string-accompanied movement with some of the best written Demon Hunter lyrics. A little boring but still uplifting!
True Defiance has so many things you can expect from a long-running band. It's not as experimental as in previous albums but it's a well-thought tribute to Demon Hunter's thriving metalcore journey. Their formula and sound is fine-tuned to near-perfection. Not as awesome as their previous 3 albums, but a good runner-up!
Favorites: Crucifix, Wake, Tomorrow Never Comes, We Don't Care, Dead Flowers
What better way to start the 2010s decade than with a couple Christian groove metalcore albums? Living Sacrifice's The Infinite Order came first, then Demon Hunter would blow your minds away with The World Is A Thorn! While about 10 years younger than Living Sacrifice, Demon Hunter still remain a Christian metalcore legend. Since their very beginning, they've been making some of the most original and consistent music out there. The band continues to significantly evolve, and anyone during the waiting period 10 years ago would've been wondering what's next.
Their previous album Storm the Gates of Hell is a solid album to enjoy where the band heads off in progressive directions, and it worked! Well, most of the time, with only one flaw in that system. With The World Is A Thorn, Demon Hunter has put most of their progressive experiments aside. And one big thing about this album is, this is the band's first one since the departure of guitarists Ethan Luck and co-founder Don Clark. They were replaced by Patrick Judge and Ryan Helm. Patrick would stay with the band, while Ryan is only here for this album. With those two new members, The World Is A Thorn has great guitar improvement. The band's previous albums had some good guitar work but never really impressive, yet here we are, listening to nice riffing with new occasional technicality.
"Descending Upon Us" begins with an epic guitar intro that would almost fit well in an Unearth album, then the fast heavy metalcore action commences. "Lifewar" continues the fast heaviness but it's too short at just 2 minutes and filled with uninteresting Mudvayne-ish nu metal. Doesn't bring down the perfect score though. After that extreme opening duo, we have "Collapsing" one of the strongest and greatest tracks of the album. That's my usually alt-rock-loving brother's favorite Demon Hunter song which got me into listening to this band. The vocals are mostly clean singing from Ryan Clark and guest member Björn "Speed" Strid of Soilwork, while keeping the song's heaviness along with a delightful guitar solo. "This Is The Line" is another awesome heavy song. That song's chorus is a little cheesy with more clean singing and not as much shouting as the rest of the song that the shouting plagues.
"Driving Nails" is a beautiful song continuing the ballad tradition the band has in every album. Then the thrash metal title track would pummel you and sever you apart with strong lyrics about the secular world. "Tie This Around Your Neck" continues hitting you hard with deep lyrics about the idea of complete dependence of man that is a weight (NOT a noose) tied around our necks.
Another standout is "Just Breathe" leveling up the heaviness especially with the guest vocals by Christian Älvestam, vocalist of formerly Scar Symmetry and now Solution .45 (two of my favorite melodeath bands during my younger melodic side). It sounds like a tough challenge for you to breathe through all this speed and intensity. Those guys really succeed at different speeds! The high guitar screeches in the verse of "Shallow Water" sound obnoxious, but what's enjoyable is, they don't last long so they're still far away from the point of making your ears bleed. Third guest Dave Peters of Throwdown adds some killer growling in "Feel As Though You Could" increasing the aggression in the verses in contrast with the melodic chorus. A perfectly fit structure! The finale "Blood In The Tears" returns to the tradition of wrapping up the album with a soft moving ballad that the band had in their first 3 albums. The band's talent is in broad range there!
The World Is A Thorn is tied with The Triptych as the absolute perfect Demon Hunter album, but it was almost brought down from its 5-star rating by a certain 2-minute track. This is an excellent contender for one of top metal albums to begin the 2010s. God bless this band!
Favorites: Descending Upon Us, Collapsing, This Is The Line, Just Breathe, Feel As Though You Could
5 years since their debut, Demon Hunter had already elevated their hardcore metal status. You might've heard of Demon Hunter a lot in the mainstream side of metal back then. Then after their hit record The Triptych, the band picks up where it ended with Storm the Gates of Hell!
This album has both the band's heaviest moments and their most melodic times. Once again following the 3-edition album tradition, the album has a regular edition, fan edition, and deluxe edition. I already have the deluxe edition but I will review it as if it's the regular edition. This album feels like taking on Christian adversity and not let sins creep in the faith. It's not a concept album but the lyrical content might just form a concept.
This is evident in the opening title track, a brutal thrash-metalcore feast of screams and blasting chorus that would give you a headbanging headache. That song starts the concept with an army of Christian angel warriors storming the gates of Hell to battle Satan's demon knights. Killer beginning! "Lead Us Home" is a bit generic in the first verse, but when you get to the chorus, you notice a big leap for Demon Hunter into atmospheric melody. There's a breakdown with Ryan Clark's Slipknot grumbling/growling vocals which you'll never find again in this album. "Sixteen" sounds much more original, starting with a long experimental chamber cello/guitar one and a half minute intro before vocals come in, including edgy guest vocals by Bruce Fitzhugh of Living Sacrifice in the pre-chorus, in contrast to the clean chorus. The breakdown has interesting lyrics. "Fading Away" is slightly experimental. The vocal styles are swapped with clean verses, a screamed pre-chorus, and a higher clean chorus that's friendly to the radio but not to the hardcore fans. This is probably the most pop-ish non-ballad song in this album, but it's solid and never horrible.
"Carry Me Down" is a stunning ballad that's absolutely gorgeous. It can make a good funeral song for Ryan Clark, with lyrics speaking of faith and heaven. The chorus is so comforting, but the earlier metalcore tension would be regained later on in this album. "A Thread of Light" is a song title that's more appropriate for a ballad, though the song itself is filled with Ryan's angry growls. Even the clean singing in the chorus sounds a little ticked off! The hardcore continues in the heavy "I Am You", a metalcore power-track with lyrics of sword battles to the death and thick heavy guitars. Continuing the battle between Heaven and Hell scenario, where the demon knights manage to defeat the army of angel warriors and rise to heaven. But there's actually a second more powerful wave of angels that push the demons back into the abyss of Hell. "Incision" once again has the vocal swap of clean verses and choruses, and screamed pre-choruses. This extreme surprise really works, especially in the repeated screams of "CUT IT OFF!!"
"Thorns" is a more dramatic ballad with irresistible melody. This is almost a perfect song for the radio, sounding like a pop rock ballad that could've been written by Daughtry. The chorus is worth singing along. One of my favorite melodic tracks here! "Follow the Wolves" has vicious guitars and powerful lyrics with the trade-offs between screaming and singing faster than if you've done it yourself without mixing. Incredible mix of melody and intensity! "Fiction Kingdom" should've been the last song in the regular edition, you'll see why soon. The verses have an angry death metal tone growling about graves, before the poppy chorus. That's interesting! "The Wrath of God" is the one song I don't like as much. It has generic verses and chorus that sounds like a stale rip-off from Summer of Darkness.
This review would be more complete with the two bonus tracks "No Reason to Exist" and "Grand Finale", but I've described enough. With lyrics so intriguing and sometimes haunting, emotional moments of driving mayhem, and the band's well-known intensity, Storm the Gates of Hell and its two surrounding albums, The Triptych and The World is a Thorn, are 3 of the best Demon Hunter albums, and they would make a perfect trilogy if not for "The Wrath of God". A few soft moments make Demon Hunter a bit more distinct, away from heavier metal bands. This is an album that anyone should try, whether they're metal fans or not, for the band's infectious sound. Storm those gates!
Favorites: "Storm the Gates of Hell", "Sixteen", "Carry Me Down", "I Am You", "Thorns", "Follow the Wolves"
It took just 3 years for Solid State metalcore band Demon Hunter to reach the pinnacle of success. Before reaching the very top of fame, the band's second album Summer of Darkness and its singles already had attention fueled up from major magazines and MTV2's Headbanger's Ball. Then there are a couple lineup changes with the new members being guitarist Ethan Luck from ska band The O.C. Supertones and drummer Timothy "Yogi" Watts from rock band The Lonely Hearts.
Earlier fans might've expected a more melodic change in sound, but nope! The band's third album The Triptych is three times better than their earlier albums in different ways including production, brutality, and growling vocals. They have 3 limited edition cover arts to fit the "#3" theme!
"The Flame That Guides Us Home" is the album's 30-second intro that is just Nightwish-esque female opera choir, as the first actual song starts to rise. "Not I" kicks off the heaviness with a fast guitar riff and Ryan Clark's Slipknot-like growling. He starts doing some clean singing in the chorus. At around the 3-minute mark, the riffs become heavier in tone and a brief sample from the album intro is heard before Ryan continues his growls. One of the heaviest songs on the album! "Undying" is another heavy song to remember, starting with smooth drumming and a catchy riff. Ryan's growls don't stand out much, but it's made up by the clean-sung chorus. The song has some of the best lyrics and better flow than the previous track. "Relentless Intolerance" has strong riffs, relentless beats, and growling. Good lyrics and flow, but there's a weak chorus.
"Deteriorate" is the first ballad in this album, beginning with slow acoustic guitar. Then the song picks up with Ryan's amazing clean singing. The lyrics are some of the best in the Christian realm of metal. One of the best songs here! "The Soldier’s Song" is the heaviest track in this album, beginning with fast riffs and drums. There are some clean vocals, but not as much as other songs, creating a nice flow. This is meant to be a tribute to fallen soldiers at wars and it really stands out, though not as much as some other songs. Then it ends with the sound of a war march. "Fire To My Soul" starts steady with a static beat before the crushing guitar riffs come in. It has a similar flow to some of the earlier heavier songs in the album, though having another weak chorus. "One Thousand Apologies" starts with slow and steady drumming with riff aura. It is another ballad that's heavier than "Deteriorate" but not as strong. There's still some growling but just for the 20-second bridge. One of the best songs with amazing lyrics!
"The Science Of Lies" rises slowly with static before being taken over by riffs. Another decently heavy track though it has the weakest lyrics. Ryan Clark still does impressive vocals there. "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck" is a neck-snapping cover of a Prong song. This is the only song with no clean vocals, but they really created a catchy riff and tune. Great cover! "Ribcage" is the last track in the album to have any heaviness. It starts with a loud rising blast of guitar riffs. The clean chorus is really impressive, but the growls sound a little off. "The Tide Began To Rise" has beautiful piano and violins, followed by Ryan's clean atmospheric voice that start the song, which is the 3rd and last ballad here. Aside from the weird ambient background break, this is a good song that could use a little more work to fix the flow. Still a great happy ending!
Even though The Triptych is a tad softer than most other Demon Hunter efforts, fans of the band, whether or not they have listen to their first two albums, would enjoy plenty of stuff in this album. Well this wouldn't be completely appropriate for anyone struggling with depression. There's never anything super-negative in this album, and Demon Hunter has once again put themselves some place prominent in the world of metal. The only other album this awesome is The World is a Thorn, and who knows when they would have a more amazing album in the future... Anyway, The Triptych is still totally timeless!
Favorites: "Not I", "Undying", "Deteriorate", "One Thousand Apologies", "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck"
Demon Hunter had been hitting the big time throughout their career. After releasing their debut album, they gained huge success from one of their singles, headline their own tour, and was established as a turning point in Christian metalcore. So after all that fame the band just got, what's next? How about another album to increase the stellar power they had in their debut??
The band got all their hype and praise from their debut, but soon it would be overthrown by their next one, Summer of Darkness. Is this album louder and more passionate than their debut? Let's find out!
The album explodes right in with "Not Ready to Die". Ryan Clark does his screaming/growling in the verses before moving to the melodic chanting chorus. The song has dark lyrics about what life is like before the end and the music has almost every the band has in one song. "If only 33 years can save my life, I have 23 more to make things right..." Was Ryan 10 years old when he wrote those anti-optimistic lyrics?! "The Awakening" continues using growling verses and melodic choruses. "Beheaded" shows the more aggressive side of metalcore with guest melodeath shrieking by Michael Williams of The Agony Scene. Then we reach the peaceful ballad "My Heartstrings Come Undone" which fits perfectly well in contrast with the earlier havoc. However, the lyrical subject is more cryptic.
"Our Faces Fall Apart" continues the vocal aggression with second guest vocalist Howard Jones of Killswitch Engage. However, the chorus has a little more carelessness than depression. Still it would be interesting to see that song have its own music video, but even that wouldn't help level up its interest. "Less Than Nothing" is one of my favorite songs in this album. It begins with electronic-like riffing before ascending into heaviness. Ryan's growls are a little muffled, but he does a great job singing the chorus. That song would be much better if it was longer. The title track starts with a deep haunting voice whispering the opening lyrics before unleashing a powerful guitar riff. I got nothing else to say about that song except for its good chorus. "Beauty Through The Eyes Of A Predator" starts with a brief sound sample until Ryan Clark breaks the quietness with his screaming. MIND-BLOW!! This song's guest vocalist is Brock Lindow from 36 Crazyfists. Another better song!
"Annihilate The Corrupt" begins with a strong riff and scathing drums. Once again, even though Ryan's growls sound a bit muffled, he makes up for that with the cleanly sung, this time sounding a little higher than usual. "I Play Dead" is yet another one of the best songs of the album, almost THE best! It starts with soft riffs and slow beats as Ryan does his most beautiful clean singing with the best lyrics of the album. Then he jumps into growls of angst as if he's screaming in pain. The peaceful chorus is true lyrical work ("I won't, I won't leave without a trace, I won't be erased"). A nice personal deep touch! This is probably one of the best metalcore songs I've ever heard in my opinion. "Everything is White" returns to being as heavy as b*lls, though not as much of a standout as the previous track. Still it has a good drums and impressive riffs, but Ryan Clark does not quite have full vocal potential. "Coffin Builder" is, similar to "Beheaded", a death-ish metalcore track, only more in tuned with the environment of lyrics and vocals with guest vocals by Trevor McNevan of Thousand Foot Krutch. The last track, "The Latest and the Last" closes the album in a good note, having one more well-done chorus.
If you're not into the first Demon Hunter album, this one would be a better starter for you. Summer of Darkness would sound great when you're listening to it at home in your room with the lights out, curtains closed, all in an otherwise bright summer day....
Favorites: "Not Ready to Die", "My Heartstrings Come Undone", "Less Than Nothing", "Beauty Through The Eyes Of A Predator", "I Play Dead"
Ah yes, Demon Hunter... A band that mixed nu metal sounds with metalcore qualities, long before nu metalcore was a thing. Probably a good reason why my alt-rock-loving brother likes some songs from this band which made me interested in the band.
This is an amazing album, NOT the best by the band but still amazing. It demonstrates the earlier nu metalcore mix, and the only other album that has that sound that year is Living Sacrifice's Conceived in Fire. Demon Hunter's self-titled debut is a dark nu-hardcore sapphire gem! Vocalist Ryan Clark provides amazing deep brutal death growls mixed with higher clean singing with many lyrics kept understandable. He also plays guitars, but he and his brother Don would find a real line-up later on.
"Screams Of The Undead" blasts off the album with heavy drums, fast guitar riffs, and Ryan's "screams of the undead". This track is thrashy in the verses, but the higher clean singing is used in the chorus. "I Have Seen Where It Grows" continues the flow from the first track, except the guitar is less thrashy and the chorus is more catchy. "Infected" is a heavy highlight! It begins with an oil-drum solo before beginning the riff aura, followed by Ryan's growls that sound like rapping. Those rap-growls threaten to deduct points from the song, but the chorus keeps the score high with its catchy flow. A definite album favorite!
"My Throat Is An Open Grave" is a softer highlight. A cello and a violin can be heard creating significant waves. The lyrics have most amazing sorrow in Christian rock/metal regardless of the lame emo song title. "Through The Black" is probably the fastest and most aggressive song here, though not as much flow as some of their later material. "Turn Your Back And Run" once again has the same pattern as the previous track, this time also having a catchy chorus. A little more mono-sounding, but still a standout!
"And The Sky Went Red" is a 30-second intro with what sounds like horses escaping their farm set on fire. Then it segues to "As We Wept", another heavy track like the previous couple actual songs, now with quick melodic riff breakdowns. "A Broken Upper Hand" is the least significant song of the bunch with lack of catchy flow and melody, but the drumming and melodic spoken/sung section towards the end is so beautiful. The excellent epic finale, "The Gauntlet" is another melodic ballad in this album. It holds some great strength and, at almost 7 minutes long, still holds the record as the longest Demon Hunter song.
So your metalhead friend just listened to this album. They asked, "How would you describe Demon Hunter?" If you said nu metal, your friend would hate you for not listening to real metal. If you said metalcore, your friend would not recognize anything metalcore in this album and think you're lying. Christian metal? That would surely make your friend's jaw drop to the floor, so go with that one. Solid State is a great label for Christian metalcore bands, and anyone who enjoys those bands should love this one....
Favorites: "Infected", "My Throat Is An Open Grave", "Through The Black", "Turn Your Back And Run", "The Gauntlet"
The 3 trance metal blades continue circling in a helix with the fifth album from electro-metal powerhouse Amaranthe, Helix! Female singer Elize Ryd once again inherits many of the vocal talents dynamically harmonized by male growler Henrik Englund and male singer Nils Molin to keep the helix of Amaranthe's music spinning.
Yep, they have a new male singer, Nils Molin (from heavy metal band Dynazty), replacing Jake E. who left the band the previous year. The band's fifth album Helix can be a rapid treat for any fan or just trance overload. First starting as a melodic metalcore/power metal act, album after album they keep adding more pop energy, sounding like Babymetal if they're 15 years older, two of the vocalists are male, and one of them growls. Either way, get ready for some electro-metal jamming to both love and hate!
Opener "The Score" is a full-steam charger with the band's entire metal arsenal thrown together with pop-fused electronic beats. The vocal triptych of Ryd, Molin, and Englund adds greater excitement than ever. "365" is basically a poppy fusion of EDM (electro-dance-metal), sounding too much like if Ariana Grande made a guest appearance in that Korn album The Path of Totality. Not at all a great track, but still way better than that other "365" song by Zedd and Katy Perry. "Inferno" flips out through industrial groove metal with jackhammer-like drumming and a merely-serving swift-changing platform for the vocal sections. The pounding rhythm throughout "Countdown" is pretty catchy, and even though Elize Ryd sounds too much like Lady Gaga sometimes there, she can still transition her mood at ease.
The title track sounds more related to mid-2000s In Flames. I like that a bit! "Dream" is more dreamy, but the sped-up singing in the verses and Englund's growls sounding more like rapping similar to Mushroomhead makes the song become a little too surreal. "GG6" is the heaviest song on this album, though the heaviness is not used in the way metalheads wanted, ending up with an omnipresent breakdown dragging through metalstep. Not quite a "GG" there. "Breakthrough Starshot" has some of the hardest groove for this album through a techno beat. I actually like it slightly better than most of the songs so far in the album.
More of the original metal commitment from Amaranthe can be heard in "My Haven". Same with "Iconic", a pleasant surprise for heavier metalheads, running wild through hyperspeed melodic thrash and powerful choruses. The 4-minute power ballad "Unified" kinda works, but still not totally great. After all that diversity, "Momentum" is an excellent comeback to the sound of their first couple albums, displaying their heavier passion that has never withered. An excellent song to go out in a metal bang!
Metalheads might think of Amaranthe as a b****rd hybrid of metalcore and electro-dubstep, but Helix is a well-polished album with at least something to admire whether you like it or not. While this ultra-hybrid might be too much to digest, Amaranthe continues to invite millennials into a thrill ride filled with exploding senses of diversity....
Favorites: "The Score", "Helix", "Breakthrough Starshot", "My Haven", "Iconic", "Momentum"
So I guess this album is where the heaviness of Amaranthe starts going downhill a bit, with the trance/pop influences taking up more space in some songs. Of course this is still an enjoyable metal album with heavy songs, but the more poppy direction is starting to take place after being hinted in a few songs from their previous album Massive Addictive. But let's see if they still have what I like...
Metalheads were already p*ssed off with the previous album's "Drop Dead Cynical" that has emphasized the pop in pop metal. For this album, Maximalism, it's about contrasts. This means that one half of the album unleashes a bigger pop experience, while the other half has heavier innovation. So this is still a half-great album!
Things start well with "Maximize", a fantastic synth-rocker with some of the best vocals from Elize Ryd while varying with the other two vocalists. Then in comes the second track "Boomerang", which sounds uncomfortably closer to synthpop, even ripping off Dead Or Alive's "You Spin Me Round" in the chorus. Even "That Song" rips off Queen's "We Will Rock You" by taking their trademarked "stomp-stomp-clap" beat. I'm sorry, but even with that attempted tribute, it's still the lowest point of the album and in the metal world. I'm sure people in the metal community would call it "that song you gotta avoid at all costs". Next one, "21" also sounds unoriginal, just taking elements from the lowest point of Maximum Addictive, "Drop Dead Cynical".
After 3 head-scratching weaknesses, "On the Rocks" is a slightly easier song to follow, though Elize Ryd sounds too entertainingly like Kesha there. Also, LMFAO called, they want their synths back for their party rock anthems! However, Elize and Jake E. do their best vocals in "Limitless", a gorgeous electro-power ballad. It's a perfect duet, though not as perfect as the song that gained my full attention to the band, the self-titled debut's "Amaranthine". Midway-through this album, the blasting "Fury" displays Henrik Englund charging like a raging bull with vocal venom, actually sounding like Blood Stain Child-esque melodeath for the first 40 seconds, until it gets ruined by Elize Ryd trying to impersonate Rihanna. What a joke! "Faster" is another faster song, but a great example of Jake and Elize's harmonies being pushed to the foreground of the mix. One of the better songs that keep the album at its 4-star rating!
"Break Down and Cry" flashbacks to The Nexus with some of the best heaviness of the album. The softer parts would make cry with joy, while the heavier breakdowns are worth good headbanging. "Supersonic" is the most impressive track of the album with supersonic up-tempo synth-metal instrumentation blended with choir vocals that tribute to Queen much better than "That Song". Next one, "Fireball" safely reminds you that there's something from Amaranthe you can never hate. "Endlessly" is a beautiful ending track with Elize Ryd singing solo sounding like Celine Dion or Mandy Moore singing a Disney ballad. Seriously, that has to be in a Disney Princess film soundtrack!
Maximalism can cause quite a dent in the Amaranthe fanbase while still remaining fairly successful and worth the band playing these songs on tour. Regardless of what comes from the studio, when it comes to life in live shows, the haters would be in the back wall. If only the band didn't add too much pop to their metal sound....
Favorites: "Maximise", "Limitless", "Faster", "Break Down and Cry", "Supersonic", "Fireball"
Love them or hate them, Amaranthe is one of the most diverse Swedish metal bands, and not totally in the progressive sense. I'm one of those people who love the band, and I've been listening to them for 3 years as of writing this review. They sure know how to trance-ify melodeath and power metal, and have toured all over Europe and America. Many metal purists accuse them of "ruining metal", but really they just wanna help bring metal and harsh vocals to the masses, no matter the mainstream cost. And even though this album isn't as perfect as their previous two albums, Massive Addictive can be hailed a successful breakthrough in trance metal!
So what's different? Well for one thing, the harsh vocalist is different. Andreas "Andy" Solveström left the band after the release of previous album The Nexus, and taking his place is Henrik Englund. Solveström was great, but Englund does his growls slightly better. Of course, there's still the melodic power metal duo of Jake E. Lundberg and the angelic Elize Ryd. Guitarist Olof Mörck really shines with his guitar solos. The album is both heavier and trance-ier than the previous two, so let's hear if that's true...
The album has an explosive start, literally, with "Dynamite"! After lighting the fuse, it explodes into a very powerful trance-metal song. Elize's vocal performance is energetic and overpowers the other vocalists who still sound great. "Drop Dead Cynical" is a song I'm not really a big fan of. Their attempt to sound heavier ends coming out as more of an industrial-pop single. That marks the beginning of the overpowering trance infecting their later albums. Next song "Trinity" is a strong symbolization of the band and the number 3; a 3-singer band singing their third song in their third album with their band logo being a triangle. Slightly calm but still powerful! My total favorite song here is the title track. Perfect catchiness with electronic synthesizers and an awesome chorus. There's even a metalcore breakdown gone dubstep. It's indeed massive addictive!
The more intellectual "Digital World" deals with society living more via digital devices instead of physically socializing people. This is yet another song fitting well with both the music and the current ongoing pandemic. You can party to that song alone at home! If you're wondering where the ballads are, here's one of them, "True". A truly beautiful clean trance-metal ballad! Elize's moments in "Unreal" sounds so unreal even though it is real. Same with "Over and Done", another clean ballad sung with Jake E. that would take you through the cloudy skies of dreamland.
"Danger Zone" continue Elize's angelic siren-like vocals while also displaying Henrik's vocal ability, perfectly suited to hammer through heavy riff breakdowns in a shattering pulse. "Skyline" is more evocative of the Swedish metalcore you would find in bands like Sonic Syndicate in an upbeat riff rollercoaster. "An Ordinary Abnormality" clearly shows Olof's background history of power metal while highlighting the technical metal precision delivered through melodic and rhythmic arrangements. The last song "Exhale" is so f***ing catchy and beautiful, and I think it might've been inspired by mid-paced Nightwish songs such as this band's possible namesake "Amaranth". A better song to end the album in a pleasant note!
Overall, Massive Addictive is a strong album, though not as perfectly strong as their previous two albums, and Amaranthe continue finding more uniqueness for their sound. They can still have awesome album progress. Seriously, I'm not sure why this band isn't far more successful. It's beyond better than pop stars like Rihanna and Miley Cyrus who have hypnotized middle-school girls to listen to them instead of this glorious band. Even though I'm an extreme metalhead, I wouldn't recommend it to other fans of that kind. As long as people stay open-minded, anyone who is a fan of pop/dance/rock/metal would love this. Those fans would almost never want those 41 minutes refunded!
Favorites: "Dynamite", "Massive Addictive", "Digital World", "Unreal", "An Ordinary Abnormality", "Exhale"
I already said that Amaranthe is a great band that's underrated in the metal community, but that's only for their self-titled album and this one, The Nexus. These two albums keep the diverse style perfectly balanced. As for later albums, the trance overpowers the heaviness causing the metal quality to decrease, and that ratio gets slightly worse per each album, while I still like many of the songs from them. So we gotta enjoy the perfect one-two punch while we still can, with their second album The Nexus!
Like I said before, Amaranthe's 2011 self-titled debut is a clap of well-mixed thunder (though I'm scared of loud thunder, don't laugh). The thunder keeps rolling with album #2, The Nexus, which promised metalheads a greater future for the band, but of course because of those later albums, it ended up being a false promise...
The album begins "Afterlife", another great opener that exemplifies everything you want from the band. Sharp guitars and massive drums are taken to different levels by trance keys. What really stands out is, you guessed it, is the triple-vocal approach. The combination of the female singing of Elize Ryd, the male singing of Jake E. Lundberg, and the screaming of Andreas Solveström are something you would never hear from another band. This cyclone of sound makes you want to turn into Sonic and beat up Dr. Eggman's robots through the wind and light. "Invincible" really displays the band's Nightwish influences while mixing them with the trance metal sounds from other bands like Crossfaith and Blood Stain Child. An interesting example of such a genre! That chorus would make you scream "ONE MORE TIME!!!", which is what Andreas screams between the two parts of each chorus. The title track has crushing music helped out by this vocal team. It really sets apart from any music you hear nowadays. The top-notch lyrics have a positive tone of never giving up. An energetic song of metal heaven on pop earth! "Theory of Everything" has beautiful optimistic energy.
"Stardust" once again has the awesome unique mix of power metal and metalcore. One of Andrea's screamed verses have quite some deep meaning ("My nemesis is my own belief and my actions will change why I'm here!!"). "Burn With Me" is a power ballad with only clean singing that sounds like Evanescence/Flyleaf with the addition of male vocals and a slight industrial feel. Great song, but the vocals sounds a bit like the terrible autotune. "Mechanical Illusion" is an awesome song, despite sounding a little more mechanical. "Razorblade" is another amazing song that mixes catchy and epic, especially in the razor-sharp guitar work.
"Future On Hold" is a futuristic-sounding song with great vocal synergy. It actually fits well with the ongoing pandemic (as of writing this review) that has put the FUTURE ON HOLD. The "Shutdown sequence" narrations sound almost like it was taken from a sci-fi video game. "Electroheart" is an excellent mix of metal growls and electropop vocals with energetic imagination. It fits well as the theme for an invincible cyborg superhero and, don't hate me for saying this, it's Aqua gone metal! "Transhuman" is a trance metal anthem for the evolution of human life. "Infinity" is an inspiring closing song for this band and future generations of trance metal. That's right, "Infinity" shall keep metal alive for a modern future!
The Nexus is a logical progression for the band that has continued the perfect sound from their first album. This proves that the band can be a rising force in modern metal, but sadly, their later albums would have them going a downward direction. Anyway, The Nexus would sure make you think against dissing Amaranthe. Highly recommended!
Favorites: "Afterlife", "The Nexus", "Stardust", "Mechanical Illusion", "Electroheart", "Infinity"
I love Amaranthe a lot, thanks to my alt-rock loving brother who was listening to this band and influenced me to listen to them too. However, their approach has gone wrong for many metalheads. First off, there are 3 singers. And it's not like Mastodon or System of a Down where the vocals are performed by 3 of the instrumentalists, NOPE!! This is a band with 3 instrumentalists and 3 singers! A bit excessive, but still great because of just one style for each vocalist; female singing, male singing, and male screaming. I think also adding a female screamer would've made this band the ultimate vocal team, but never mind that. Screaming vocals can make any band from a different genre sound like extreme metal, and it's done in a good way, at appropriate heavier times. Of course, they also have a female singing vocalist. Ever since what I thought was my complete metal transition from epic to extreme (with Amaranthe being the sole surviving band to make it to my current taste), I've had a bit of trouble finding female-fronted bands that actually fit my current interest. My interest for Nightwish is completely out the window and I don't wanna have to find a generic power-pop-star like Lady Gaga. Fortunately, Elize Ryd is a true modern metal heroine who, together with screaming Andreas Solveström and clean Jake E. Berg form a unique vocal combination in metal!
Another recognize aspect of Amaranthe is the incredible catchiness of each and every song. It's as if they're a metal cover band of pop songs (my favorite kind of metal covers) while sounding like their own original work. Of course, radio-friendly melody is a false thing in metal, right? Well they have that while still having some "true" melody from Amon Amarth and melodic metalcore that some think it's a danger zone to keep away from true metalheads. Yet besides the breakdowns and harmonics, there's one part of the style for metalheads to enjoy and keep their sanity, and that's the power metal bombast. This can save the band from being a false outlaw in metal, right? RIGHT?!
WAY RIGHT!! Opening track "Leave Everything Behind" is one of the first songs by the band and it has melodeath, alt-metal, power metal, and a bit of trance all in a perfect balance. The choruses are catchy while staying epic, especially in the guitar solo during the last one. The sensational vocals of "Hunger" help you picture a singing knight, a screaming barbarian, and a singing sorceress battling forces of evil in a magical futuristic fantasy setting. "1,000,000 Lightyears" indeed takes you a million light-years of metal riffs and spacey trance synths. While the singing is powerful, I actually prefer the screaming there. A true trance-metal gift! "Automatic" bites through trance-metal really well for a song from their debut.
"My Transition" is another song that makes me love this band. It made me remember first listening to this band in 2017 that fit well in my epic metal taste, but also so well in my transition to modern metal that lasted throughout that year, hence this band being the only band from my epic metal era that I still listen to along with the modern bands that I enjoy. "Amaranthine" is one of the most amazing songs from both this album and the band, and at the top of their ballads list in my opinion. In fact, when I went with my friends from the outside world for a karaoke outing, I snuck in that song and sang it with two of my friends. Pretty rebellious, huh? When we sang it, I performed Andreas' screaming bridge. "Rain" (also known as "It's All About Me") has great lyrics for modern metalheads to love. "Call Out My Name" is another nice song, not to be confused with "Calling My Name", a song by Dragonland, another power metal band with guitarist Olof Mörck. Andreas' screams might be a bit too much for melodic listeners, but they wanna call out the names of the other two vocalists. The bridge after the second chorus is the best part. Another perfect mix of dance-pop, metalcore and a bit of prog!
"Enter the Maze" is one of a few songs that were re-recorded from the Leave Everything Behind demo EP, and it's also one of only two songs in the album to surpass the 4-minute mark. The other over 4-minute song is "Director's Cut", which is the longest song ever by Amaranthe, an almost 5-minute progressive-ish epic! Man, they have got to make more songs like that. "Act of Desperation" is another great song I love. The closing "Serendipity" is yet another amazing song, enough said.
I can't describe anything beyond the infectious vocal interplay, mesmerizing melodies, heavenly harmonies. The production is professional with the band doing all to please modern listeners. Before you even think "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO METAL?!?", please just listen to the album of glory all the way. You might find something to appreciate!
Favorites: "Leave Everything Behind", "1,000,000 Lightyears", "My Transition", "Amaranthine", "Call Out My Name", "Director's Cut"