Review: As I Lay Dying - Awakened

Band: As I Lay Dying
Album: Awakened
Year: 2012
Country: USA
Genre: Metalcore

I have listened to Awakened 4 or 5 times through and this is a difficult review to write. Not because the album is complex and difficult to explain, no its much worse than that. As I Lay Dying's album Awakened just...isn't that good. As a big fan of this band it is just hard to admit, but there it is. Awakened isn't by any means a bad album but the band made what I would say are a few mistakes in the process of its creation and they stick out like a sore thumb.

On a review I read of the album on another site someone mentioned how AILD has created the first "retro metalcore" album. I think that description is apt, and I also believe that is what takes this from what could be a great album, to just ok. The riffing is a lot more choppy reminiscent of your generic metalcore band. It contains a lot of the stop start guitar parts which sap the riffs of their strength and just makes thing a tad boring. Still the fellas can still shred and Wasted Words is a thrashy tune for the most part. Another track that stands out and being good is A Greater Foundation which has probably the most memorable chorus of the album.

Vocally Tim Lambesis even sounds like he kind of phoned it in this time around. His performance on Awakened almost reminds me of the vocalist for another christian metalcore band, Mychildren Mybride. In fact the album holds more than that in common with said band. And you know, Josh Gilbert's clean vocals never really bothered me too much. But on Awakened they annoy the living hell out of me. I'm not sure if he sings more on this album than the previous two or what. But it seems to rub me the wrong way, like how when he sings it just pops out above everything else.

One of the highlights of the album has to be listening to Jordan Mancino's drumming. It's always a treat to hear him behind the kit. The album seems to even be pretty much driven by the drumming, perhaps a little higher in the mix than the other instruments. Mr. Gilbert's Bass is of course back in the mix, its there but barely discernible. The production is well done at least. Its clear and clean without any noticeable sonic blemishes.

On Awakened AILD have seemed to of mixed their style on An Ocean Between Us and the Powerless Rise with their older more generic metalcore style. This hurts the album. As soon as I heard the breakdown on Cauterize I knew something strange was up. Like I said before, Awakened is not bad by any means but it is not up to par with the last two albums. There is too much whiny singing, and the riffing at times can be a pain. Musically this album may have more melodies, but it is somehow less memorable overall. If you are a diehard AILD fan you may be on the fence about this album like me, otherwise if you are new to the band just pick up The Powerless Rise or the seminal An Ocean Between Us. Hopefully Awakened is a grower.

Score: 7/10
Standout Tracks: A Greater Foundation

Review: Dying Fetus - Reign Supreme

Band: Dying Fetus
Album: Reign Supereme
Year: 2012
Genre Death Metal
Country: USA

Never really listened to a Dying Fetus album before. I'll be honest for a while I found the name to be quite disgusting and that alone quashed any interest in the band I had. But of course we should never judge a book by its cover now, should we? Reign Supreme is actually a pretty decent album, although for me it does have a few noticeable flaws.

I really like the guitar play on this album. It is mostly mid paced groovy death metal, that infectious kind that is just fun as hell to listen to. There are also some noodly moments here and there but it doesn't go into the tech death wankery thank god. At times the speed does pick up, even if briefly, which can be a welcomed change of pace. But overall its the groove that really owns this album and makes it something that kept me from being bored of listening to it.

One of the flaws with Reign Supreme is the drumming. To be more specific the sound of the snare drum. The drumming itself is actually really good and I enjoyed it. But the snare sounds so processed and fake like. And with the amount of blast beating that goes on it just kind of sucks the life from what could be a really great part of the album. And the Bass seems to be quite lost in the mix.

I do like the vocals. Its a deep death growl that almost borders on pig squeals at times. Though it is usually quite difficult to understand a word Sean Beasley is saying! Oh well I enjoyed his performance anyways, its a very primal and brutal growl that definitely gets the job done. The production is pretty solid for the album. Besides the bass being almost non-existent. Its clean and crisp and the guitars have just the right bite to them.

So Dying Fetus have produced a pretty brutal album with heaps of groove. Its the riffs that are the key to the success here I believe. I mean sure the vocals are extreme and the production is strong but the riffing elevates RS to being more than just another run of the mill death metal album. Still, while Reign Supreme is a good listen it also doesn't do a whole lot more than any other band does. Its not progressive in any way, but they seem to have embraced their niche and are making the best of it. As long as the quality holds up the way it has on RS, I'm fine with that.

Score: 7.5/10
Standout Tracks: Invert the Idols, In the Trenches

Free Revocation EP from Scion A/V

It seems Scion A/V is still releasing metal EPs for free. This time its Revocation's Teratogenesis. You can get to the page to download here. You will have to enter your email address and a link to download will be sent by email. I hope they will continue to give their EPs away in a physical format like they did with the Immolation/Enslaved/Wormrot cds they were mailing to those who wanted them.

Enjoy!

Review: Cannibal Corpse - Torture

Band: Cannibal Corpse
Album: Torture
Year: 2012
Country: USA
Genre: Death Metal

Here it is, my first venture into modern Cannibal Corpse. I'll be honest in saying that Eaten Back To Life is my only exposure to CC. That was a long time ago and I have heard a lot about CC from both their fans and detractors over the years but never really paid much attention. So it's with Torture that I take my first leap into the band's modern era.

Torture is unfortunately fraught with issues. One of them stands out above the others, and in fact might be the only unforgettable problem with this album. This is completely forgettable. Everything is just so bland and none of it really sticks in your mind. In listening to this album I have not once said, "Hey I'm going to give this song another listen!". As background music it does nicely. It is something to headbang to while you do some monotonous task. But I could not sit down and just listen to Torture with it in the forefront of my mind.

I cannot say the musicianship is bad either. I mean the fellas are obviously proficient at playing their instruments. But it is probably more so the fact that none of the music is interesting. I had a hard enough time paying attention to the music and many times I was unsure whether the same song was playing or if the next one was on. They just all sound the same and when they aren't very creative it makes listening to the whole album a real challenge.

Torture is extremely mediocre. It's like the band didn't care to create anything beyond what was expected which is a shame because this is rather stagnant. Even vocally it is the same unchanging death growl throughout the entire album. Some vocalists can actually pull this off but it just doesn't work here. This review was difficult to even write because Torture is just so bland. I'm not sure whats worse, writing a bad album, or writing something that is uninspired and forgettable.

Score: 3/10
Standout Tracks: None, if you really must listen to this album throw it on for background noise.

Review: Eluveitie - Helvetios

Band: Eluveitie
Album: Helvetios
Year: 2012
Country: Switzerland
Genre: Melodic Death/Folk Metal

Helvetios is my first trip into the discography of Eluveitie and it has left me with very a very mixed opinion. Unfortunately most of that opinion is negative but there are definitely some positives and some tracks on the album that make for an interesting listen. The Swiss band plays an amalgam of folk and melodic death metal. I personally have never delved into the folk genre myself so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.

These days I'm not sure but some bands really try to push too much music onto one album. This can really hurt the overall feel. Helvetios suffers heavily from this with 17 tracks coming in at 59 minutes. This makes Helvetios a meandering long winded affair. In fact I've listened to the album 4 or 5 times and it is still difficult to pick out many songs from one another. That's not to say all the songs are bad or anything, but you could have easily cut the album in half and left the best tracks and had a really great album. Instead there are so many tracks that could have been trimmed that make this a hard listen to completely get through.

The only thing that makes it worth while are the good catchy tracks like Luxtos, Meet the Enemy, Havoc, and Uxellodunon peppered through out the album. These have the strongest riffs. Like I said before that doesn't mean the other songs are bad but they are painfully mediocre. A Rose for Epona stands out from the others probably because it starts off softly and gets heavier as it goes on and is entirely sung using female vocals. Otherwise most songs fail to differentiate themselves from one another, and they are rather "meh".

Vocally Chrigel Glanzmann has a rather "normal" harsh vocal style. They are rather standard when you look at the genre and the prevailing trends vocally. It's the clean vocals that are a bit more interesting. The female vocals appear here and there and are well done, especially on A Rose for Epona. The male singing done on Scorched Earth is especially good and sounds as if it was recorded by some bard from ancient times.

Helvetios is a pretty mediocre melodic death metal album. In fact if it weren't for the fact that the band heavily uses folk elements it would be your standard boring melodeath album without much to make it unique from others. But still even the folk metal fusion cannot save this album and bring it above the challenge that it is to get through. For every good song here there are one or two boring ones to follow it. Though there are still good songs here and that does count for something. Perhaps next time Eluveitie will try not to shove too many songs and too much material onto one cd.

Score: 4.5/10
Standout Tracks: Luxtos, Meet the Enemy, Havoc, Uzellodunon, A Rose for Epona

Review: Carcass - Heartwork

Band: Carcass
Album: Heartwork
Year: 1993
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Melodic Death Metal

Carcass started out as more of a grind band, and in fact are considered the founders of the goregrind genre. After their first two releases they moved on to what would be considered straight up death metal. Heartwork continues that progression further into a more melodic, simplified form of music. In fact this album itself is generally thought of as one of the first melodic death metal releases, and a classic of both death metal and melodic death metal.

Before I get to the band members themselves special mention needs to be made of the production. Firstly Heartwork has a very clean modern sound to it. So much so that even nearly 20 years later it sounds just as good as anything that is being released today. Having watched the documentary on the making of the album by the band you could tell much attention was paid to the guitar sound. It is one of the heaviest guitar tones I have heard and their hard work really paid off.

So it is mentioned in interviews that while writing the music for Heartwork the band had been listening to a lot of Iron Maiden. And it shows with their more prominent use of harmonized leads. Not to mention the solos seem to be even more influenced by that style than in their early days, probably due to Michael Amott's writing style. The songs run the gamut here, you have the more death'n'roll No Love Lost, the fast paced Heartwork, and everything in between.

I know people often like to claim that Ken Owen was a sloppy drummer, especially on Carcass' earlier efforts but he really pulls it together for a top notch performance here. I mean this is some of the tightest most on the spot drumming jobs in the business. While the blasts take a back seat they are still present just in places where they are more beneficial to the music rather than each song being chock full of them.

Jeff Walker does as good a job as ever with his vocals on Heartwork. The band may have spawned hundreds of clones and the same can be said for those who try to emulate Walker's high pitched rasp. Its interesting that while Bill Steer's deeper growls are non-existent on Heartwork I think it works to the albums advantage. It's kind of hard to imagine that style of vocals being used here and with this music, it just doesn't seem to fit. As for Walker's bass playing, well it's there and follows the guitars to a tee. Nothing real interesting but his vocals will always overshadow his bass skills.

Heartwork is easily one of my favorite Carcass/death metal/melodeath albums. Every song is strong and contains equal amounts of sweet melody and crushing aggression. Whether you like Heartwork or not, it's hard to deny the impact it has had one the genre. I for one believe that this is one of the defining albums of both death metal and melodic death metal.

Score: 9.5
Standout Tracks: No Love Lost, Heartwork, This Mortal Coil, Buried Dreams

Review: Vomitory - Opus Mortis VIII

Band: Vomitory
Album: Opus Mortis VIII
Year: 2011
Country: Sweden
Genre: Death Metal

Vomitory seems to be very much like Bolt Thrower. And by that I don't mean they sound like Bolt Thrower, but they have that same consistency. This can lead people to both be happy and upset it seems. People will cry over the fact that a band isn't progressing, while others will be upset if the band moves from its sound.

Many bands are playing the old school style of Swedish death metal but few of them were actually there. Vomitory was though, and they have retained that Swedeath sound and have it down to a science. I personally enjoy this. The riffing here is both groovy and crushing with just the right amount of melody so as to not be too wussified. While there is a bit of chugging to be honest that doesn't really offend me the way it does some people. There is even a nice acoustic intro to Hate in Time of War.

 I have to say Erik Rundqvist's death growls are downright filthy sounding. These are among the best growls in death metal in my opinion. They are very deep yet you can make out what he is saying which is always a treat! Though his bass is just barely audible. It may just be my sound system but it seems it seems the guitars are what is giving most of the low end. The drumming of Tobias Gustafsson is also pretty decent. Very standard death metal drumming but I appreciate how he doesn't just fill every track with blasts and instead uses them sparingly and where needed.

Opus VIII is a good Swedeath album at just the right length. At 36 minutes the band gets across their point. Far too many bands just go on way too long for their own good turning what could be a decent album into a borefest. The riffs are so groovy it's hard not to bang your head to them. While some may say Vomitory isn't doing anything new, what they are doing is damn good.

Score: 8.5/10
Standout Tracks: Regorge in the Morgue, The Dead Awaken, Hate in Time of War