I don't remember these guys being as djenty back when I heard them back in 2009. But they are pegged as death core , so genre labels really overlap here and might give you a head ache if you try to figure out where one begins and the other ends. The production is bigger and symphonic overtones collide with their slamming fist full of technical chugs in your face.The vocals are not just as straight up death metal as they used to be either. "Throw Me In the Jungle" is more hook oriented. The chorus yell of of the songs title is more sung than not. They find a more death metal place on "Free Fall" lending itself to their more showy guitar antics. The lyrics are much more touchy feely than you would think the growl would be conveying saying how they lost their self again lost in the free fall, in the heat of moment" which I could hear Taylor Swift singing. The lyrics to "Bad Blood" might be meaner. The further I go into this album the more evident it is that the production here is immaculate . Every thing sits in a proper place allowing for all the colliding elements to come through. The clean vocals come in a little more predictably on "Illuminate". This is one of their more accessible moments.
The djent bounce back with buoyant riff to " The Sleeping and the Dead". Synths come twinkling in to provide more atmosphere to the almost new metal groove that forms. These guys are good guitar players, perhaps even outclassing the Faceless in this category. They shred where Meshuggah relies on shifting tempos. At four minutes "Tidebinder" gets to the point quick. The string synths heavily drape the first verse before they lock into their brand of groove. They cram a lot into these four minutes. They strings offset the often over macho stomp of the riffs. If you are into guitar solos then there is a pretty impressive one in the songs final minute. Another shred fest occurs on " Resilience". They lock in create both robotic stomp and melody. Here the more progged out side of djent rears its head. Things get a little scattered compositionally on "Goddess of Dawn" as the guitars go for more wanking than what works best for this band. Midway they lock back into a slamming riff before going into something that sounds like it could be on a Nightwish album. Some of this flashy guitar is impressive , but with anything its about balance.
"The Louder the Sound, the More We all Believe" starts off sounding like the theme song to an anime movie. They do a better job of blending their prog tendencies with an almost Slipknot like bounce on "Warlords" . The clean vocals bring the hook with more of a fluid motion and the shredding , well it remains intact for better or for worse. By the time I get to "River of Time" I think I've had my fill of this album, not that they are not good at what they are going, it is just not working with the lingering remains of yesterdays head ache and all the songs are beginning to sound the same, like they are interchangeable parts of one formula. They close out with a song that blends their prog aspirations with the death djent they have been churning out in their heavier moments complete with breakdowns. So it boils down to melodic tech death that takes a dancey turn. Overall they know what they are doing and I admire their adventurous spirit and can appreciate their ability to really burn up a fret board, but its not something that I would really listen to, so I'll give it a 7.5 , round it up if you are a fan of the band.
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