Kev Rowland
‘Visitant’, is the first new album from famed metal act Arsis in five years, and to show they mean business it was recorded, mixed and mastered at Audio Hammer Studio with producer Mark Lewis (Whitechapel, Devildriver, Cannibal Corpse). It features cover artwork and layout from Mark Riddick (Arch Enemy, Morbid Angel, Varathron) and features guest appearances by Trevor Strand (The Black Dahlia Murder) and Malcolm Pugh (Inferi). The Virginia Beach-based quartet derived its name from the musical term "arsis and thesis", in which "arsis" refers to the unaccented part of a measure. The name's origin comes as no surprise, considering co-founder's James Malone's classical education in music (as well as providing guitar and vocals for Arsis, he is a skilled violinist and a composition major), which in turn adds a whole new layer to the way in which they sound. This is death metal that is righteously tinged with black and thrash influences, but is completely dedicated to expanding the reaches of melodicism and technicality in the genre.
Many people may point to the aggression of the twin guitars, the over the top vocals, or the drum attack as to why this band hit so hard, but for me the star of the sound is Noah Martin whose intricate bass playing pins everything together. There is a warmth to his sound, and he can be found providing either perfect support or counterpoint, working either with the drums or the guitars to ensure that each song is being taken into the stratosphere. Arsis commented on ‘Visitant’: "With a meticulous attention to detail and hooks, we feel as though we have created our most honest and dark record to date". Guitarist and vocalist James Malone elaborates: "I wanted to do something different with the lyrical themes for this album and it was just a natural move to incorporate a passion for horror into Visitant. As I was doing my part of the writing I tried to capture the tone and atmosphere of some of my favourite films (Silver Bullet, From Beyond, Prince Of Darkness). It was a very satisfying and fun album to write and I think it might be what fans consider a 'worthy follow-up' to ‘A Diamond For Disease’."
This, their sixth studio album, shows that Arsis have no intention at all of slowing down, and have created something that is taking melodic technical death metal into new areas, stretching the genre so that in some ways it is almost becoming mainstream, while still pushing the boundaries of acceptability. Well worth investigating.