Band: Mutiny Within
Album: Mutiny Within
Year: 2010
Country: USA
Genre: Progressive Melodic Death Metal
This band (and album) seemed to not be received very well by some people in the metal community. I honestly cannot figure out why! Sure it isn't "brutal", but not all bands have to be. Mutiny Within play some blend of progressive melodic death metal but you wouldn't be far off calling them progressive/technical power metal with harsh vocals. Either way the melodic tag is what really fits the band best.
This album has a number of good things going for it and one of them is singer/growler Chris Clancey. Clancey has an incredibly strong singing voice that is sort of in the vein of power metal in that it is usually done in a higher register. This guy can really belt it out for sure. A lot of the songs are done in cleans only, the strongest probably being Undone. He also throws in growls as well and while they aren't as strong as his singing it doesn't really sound forced. He seems to pick and choose the right moment to let out a scream so they aren't just shoved into songs for the sake of having harsh vocals.
Next is the music itself. The guitar riffs bash your brains out with melody. I mean a number of these songs could easily be put on the radio and become popular. Don't get me wrong they are absolutely a metal band but listen to songs like Undone, or Forsaken and you can see that the band clearly had the ability to become something big in the metal scene. The guitar playing is sort of technical in that it can be complex at times while keeping a thrashy speed. But as for speed as a whole the album is all over the place, but they were composed so that they flow well.
The drumming is straight up melodeath style but a bit more inventive than the norm. There is a good bit of double bass but there is some variety as well so it doesn't become boring. The bass is mostly inaudible accept for a few parts of the album where it is given the center stage for a moment or two (like at the start of the second verse of Images). There are also some keys and they are put to good use never really being pushed over the rest of the band but making it known they are there.
This album is a great piece of melodic/death metal and if I were to describe it the best I could say is that it sounds like an American version of Scar Symmetry. Maybe Roadrunner fumbled the ball with this band but there is no reason why they didn't become much bigger than they did and unfortunately they are now on hiatus. With strong vocals and music with a massive amount of melody its really a shame Mutiny Within were looked over by most in the metal community.
Score: 9/10
Standout Tracks: Undone, Lethean, Forsaken, Year of Affliction
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