Damn, it just goes to show: You really can't judge a book by its cover.? I fucking love the cover art on this thing so I was really hoping for something really cool, but what did I get?? Take one guess.? Of course you're correct!? It's more generic metalcore that's heavy on the frantic death metal riffing.? I'll give them credit where due: The playing is tighter than average, the recording is pretty decent, they write some good riffs and tend to avoid falling into the pitfalls of utilizing too many Swedish sounding riffs, and they seem to be competent musicians.? But that's not enough to really give ?em much of an edge in my opinion.? The songwriting is more linear and thought out than most such bands, so it's not a chaotic blend of overly technical speed or discordance by any means, but they do kind of keep a little that frenzied edge to the changes, so... the songs simply aren't that memorable to me.? "Consciousness Decay" definitely makes better use of melody and the layering of different guitar parts, and the similarly midpaced melodic break about two minutes into "Twilight of the Idols" is fucking slick, but they never really achieve that level of force from start to finish.? As usual their tremolo picking riffs don't really carry any feeling, and that's often a source of decline in the songwriting.? They do hit on more of a traditional death metal sound than a lot of what I hear from these types of groups, but that's not really helping them out at all.? "Synchronized Worlds" is the one song that really feels complete in that it keeps things focused and has a consistent energy level throughout, so it stands above the others as more memorable through and through.? The bluntly and oh-so-creatively (sarcasm) titled "Instrumental" that closes the disc is another promising affair, with nice melodic leads, some clean guitars, and slow discordant rhythms that all could've added some intrigue and force to the other material had they been explored to their full potential.? I don't know, if nothing else the songs are of respectable lengths and they do try to keep things rather coherent in the long run.? And the production is pretty good, too.? A little dry perhaps, but the mix is clear and I like most of the tones.? The bass ought to be louder considering that the guitars aren't too heavy on the distortion, but the percussion sounds pretty good (occasionally the dude knocks out some killer fills, too - though there are some major timing issues in portions of "From the Height of a Thousand Years", which is actually among the better songs) and the searing vocal snarls are alright by me.? The guitars need a little work because sometimes the really pronounced lead work or dual guitar harmonies sound a little choppy, but a part of that's because there are minor performances issues in tow, regardless of whether or not they pull it off with more finesse than most of these bands. I do love the artwork, though. The inner spread's a little plain by comparison, but the outer artwork is excellent and really creates a nice aesthetic for the packaging. Good work there. The lyrics have a cool stream of consciousness flow going on and for the most part I think they're decently creative. But at the same time, lines like, "Vomit stained dreams of perfection stain the porcelain bowl of sorrow," are among the most horrendous and inexcusably pathetic I have ever come across in more than five years of doing this site, so... it's a bit of a tradeoff. I don't know, they've got enough oomph to where I can see why kids who are into this style would like it, but then again I don't understand why kids really like this style because it does very little for me and this niche of the genre is painfully oversaturated. It inches out as more good than bad, but they need to keep working at it.
[Metal Blade]
Running time - 38:27, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: From the Height of a Thousand Years, Synchronized Worlds, Instrumental]
Metal Blade Records - http://www.metalblade.com
