arcane-beautiful
Having enjoyed their first album, but not too much, I was warned that I might not like this album as much as the second album.
And as it goes, yea I really don't like this album. I won't lie, these guys aren't really my thing. But, haven't said that these guys aren't my thing, their second album did suprise me a good amount. But this album on the other hand didn't.
Musically the album is all over the place. Their second album at least had a consistent sound running throughout, which did play to the band's strength. On this album, the band can't decided what they are, are they a Tool rip off, a normal prog band, an experimental rock band or whatever it is they want to be. Most of the time, they are a Tool rip off. On their last album, I said they where a better version of Tool. Looks like Tool have just bettered them on this album.
Vocally, Devon at times plays it really safe, and I mean really safe. Now and then he hits some alright highs, but most of the time, even the melodies have very similar flows throughout.
Even though I did basically spew out a lot of negativity about this album, I will admit that some of the aspects of the album I did quite enjoy. The small intros which led into songs was a pretty great idea and even the album's length, being just about 40 minutes does bode well in the band's favour. Sadly the material just isn't that strong.
The album opener “Powertrip” does start the album off well. With an intro from “Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas”, the album has a rather speed metal take with some nu metal flourishes. I do like the interesting take on vocals that Devon decided to attempt.
The best song on the album suprisingly enough is one of the shorter intros “Under The Weight Of My Stone.” A rather beautiful folky acoustic song. It's funny that the song it leads into “Once” is a complete bore-fest.
One of the albums more interesting moments has to be the track “One Bullet.” An interesting arrangement with a weird sounding electronic beat which gives off an almost Björk sounding industrial groove to the song. Some pretty interesting arrangements throughout.
The album's bonus track “...Into The Spiral Cathedral” is one of the more proggy sounding songs on the album. Nice arrangement throughout with some interesting musical passages.
In conclusion, I really didn't enjoy this album that much. Parts where good and some songs had their moments, but this album was just very confusing. One thing is, these guys sound really isn't one that completely jumps out at me, but at least their second album did keep me enjoyed. I really would say this album is for someone who likes this kind of metal and is a fan of the band. Things do get better for these guys, so this album hasn't completely ruined this band's image.
4.8/10