Signs of the Swarm : "Amongst the Low and Empty"

This Pittsburgh band has been gaining a bit of a buzz for it's fifth full length. Some of this is due to riding in on the rising wave of popularity metal core seems to be having. Their new album has a grinding machine like groove that is accented by death metal syncopation. The first song alone has numerous winding shifts of riffage rather than adhering to a verse chorus formula. The hooky grooves might deviate from death metal normal in their search for what at times feels like the never ending breakdown. This band is also being mentioned in conversation regarding the nu-metal revival that is being re-branded as nu-core. The guitars are low but slither more than bounce which makes me confident they have little to do with bands like Knocked Loose or Loathe. There are flirtations with electronic ambiance, and djent hints but over all the first two songs feel like futuristic death metal. 

The rabid under current of  bass leading into "Pray for Death" lends more credence to labelling these guys death metal, despite the math of the twisting turning guitars. This albums stellar production helps the glitched out moments of sound make sense. The vocals sometimes go into low pig squeal gurgles , but aside from the relentless stomping does not owe a great deal to the strain of death metal that descended from the Myspace days. "Borrowed Time" finds them once again leaning into a machine like chugging. The more spastic moments are fleeting. Their strength as a band is directly tied to the ambiance and experimentation they employ to set themselves apart from the pack. "Shackles Like Talons" is one of best examples of this. 

  Most of their songs are around four minutes so they make the most of their time. While they are very technically sound musicians they do not bloat the songs with a bunch of guitar solos.  The vocals begin to feel like a tedious afterthought, but the time the album winds around to "DREAMKILLER".  They are purposefully delivered but are a bit of a one trick pony. Matt Heafy makes an appearance on "the Witch Beckons". His voice breaks up what is otherwise a stagnant growl fest. "Echelon" invokes some chaos before digging into the breakdown. The drummer is skilled , but could anchor things more rather than just blasting off into double bass. They chug their way into a marginally more conventional vision of metal with "Faces Without Names".  The last song upholds the status quo that the band established a few songs into the album, with few surprises. I will give this album a 9, not totally my thing, as it winds around most of the time without hooking me in, but to give credit where credit is due these guys are taking an old formula and making it their own, the end result being an album that sounds both polished and fresh.