ELEMENT — The Energy (review)

ELEMENT — The Energy album cover Album · 2010 · Technical Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"The Energy" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US death metal act Element. The album was released in November 2011 by Brutal Bands. Element impressed me quite a lot with their debut album "Aeons Past (2007)", which is a brutal technical death metal album, but of the more memorable kind. Things have changed on "The Energy" though (apparently to the great dismay of fans of brutal technical death metal). First of all Element is now a one-man project. Mason Gregory handles both guitars, bass and vocals on the album. On the debut album KC Howard from Decrepit Birth played the drums, but on this album Mason Gregory has programmed the drums.

The music on the album is technical death metal with loads of melodic elements and a slight progressive edge. A reference to acts like Obscura and Abysmal Dawn wouldn´t be wrong but there´s a slight influence in the music from an act like Cynic too. The influence from the latter is only heard in the most mellow spacy sections of the album though. The musicianship is on an extremely high level throughout the album. Fast technical riffing, epic melodic themes and intricate song structures are some of the features on "The Energy". There are still traces of the band´s brutal past in some of the most fast-paced blasting death metal parts, but the pace is generally slower than on the last album and the vocals are not as one-dimensionally brutal as the case was on the debut album. Here Mason Gregory varies his vocals between deep growling and more higher pitched raspy styled vocals. The tracks are generally very memorable with strong hooks. Both melodic hooks and rythmic ones too. I´m actually rather impressed by how well the songs are composed. Lots of clever tempo- and time signature changes grace the songs, but it´s never at the expence of flow or power.

The production suits the music well but there are a few issues with the sound. The programmed drums, while being very well programmed, still sound... well programmed. They simply lack the human factor that only a "real" human drummer can provide and therefore they are the weak link on the album. As mentioned it´s not the biggest issue and I´m fully able to enjoy the album without thinking too much about it. I just feel obligated to give it a mention.

Other than that slight issue, my overall feeling about this album is one of amazement. I have read very few reviews of "The Energy" on the sites that I regularly visit and the album seems a bit overlooked. I´d say that´s quite a shame. "The Energy" deserves much more attention from fans of melodic technical death metal than it apparently gets. Such a high quality release deserves a 3.5 - 4 star rating.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Reverie Metalcore
UNSAINTED
Buy this album from MMA partners
Spruce Street Classics Sludge Metal
TOADCRUCIFIER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Can It Possibly Get Worse? Sludge Metal
TOADCRUCIFIER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Auditory Assault And Ear-Piercing Melodies Sludge Metal
TOADCRUCIFIER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Artillery Victim Sludge Metal
TOADCRUCIFIER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Prisoner - Children of the Grave (Official Video) Live
PRISONER (VA)
Bosh66· 16 hours ago
Prisoner - Skies are Blackened (Official Video)
PRISONER (VA)
Bosh66· 16 hours ago
Prisoner - Prisoner of Time (Official Video)
PRISONER (VA)
Bosh66· 16 hours ago
Death Conspiracy - The Thousand Truths (Official Lyric Video)
DEATH CONSPIRACY
Tupan· 1 day ago
Death Conspiracy - Living To Explain (Official Music Video)
DEATH CONSPIRACY
Tupan· 1 day ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed