Eight songs will give you exactly 30 minutes of something that is brutal, complex, heavy metal, noise and hardcore with a slice of melody. They couldn’t give their selves a better band name than this. Imagine The Dillinger Escape Plan with peaces of less complex stuff but more melodic metal parts and you got the Architects.

 

I don’t know how to describe this kind of music but I can imagine where the term/genre ‘noise’ made its entrance. I can also understand that a lot of people can’t take this longer than one minute. But I still wouldn’t describe it as noise. It’s major complex and even I, as a drummer, cannot find clear patterns of rhythms. At least, for three quarters of the album. And this is why I can dig this band. They use these melodic, ‘listenable’ parts in it. That just give you the few, but very needed seconds, to take a breath and protect you from mental damage.

 

You Don’t Walk Away From Dismemberment (second song on the album) ends with a solo on a melodic metal-core riff. That’s the first, but not the last, time that they step back from that ‘Dillinger’ style. Too bad he uses nothing but screams. I think it would be great to have some singing parts in it.

 

This Confession Means Nothing (nr 5) is an easy listening song. Besides the screaming, very ‘accessible’.  Smart that they put this in the middle so you can recover from the brutal parts. I thought that, once I heard the first 4 songs, I could fill in the rest of the album. But they still keep it interesting with those ‘listenable’ parts. They combine it very well.

 

Still, I’d rather see the balance between the melodic metal parts and the brutal noisy complex parts a bit different. Yes, it’s very impressive that they can play it this tight and well controlled. I also think that it’s great to play. But the fact that it takes this much energy to listen to it. A bit less complex would be great, but hey, isn’t that just a matter of taste…

 

Love,

 

Maurits