This is the 3rd album from this Canadian band. Their last album found them worshipping Mastodon a little too much for my tastes, they have shed that fixation. This album is more metal in a traditional sense, without their prog-rock aspirations getting the best of the songwriting. There is some great guitar playing going on right from the first song. If I were to mention one band I feel these guys owe the most thanks to this time, it would be Opeth. This is fine for what it is since Opeth no longer makes this kind of music so if the sense of nostalgia was getting the best of me and I did not want to play "Deliverance " this would work.
Though they have not shed all of their former obsessions with Mastodon, the Brent Hinds-influenced style of picking can be heard at the start of the second song. They do shift things into their more melodic take on death metal. Skilled at what they do, but still sorting through their influences to find who they are, though it shines through more on this album than the last one. They have improved when it comes to the more melodic moments. Though in many respects songs like "Is it Your God" feel like I have already heard them before. When it comes to heavy music these guys are middle of the road when weighed against actual heavy death metal bands like Cannibal Corpse or Frozen Soul. But fans of this band are listening to Opeth and not Cannibal Corpse, as they want more of the jamming.
What can be appreciated about this album is that it is a guitar album. That is the reason you are going to want to listen to it. It does this in an even more admirable manner, by not putting its foot on the monitor and trying to wow you with guitar solos, but great tones and melodic playing. There are solos but they serve the song and add melody. "Melt the Crown" winds me over in this regard. They are firing off their songwriting skills at a higher level for "Cloak of the Vast and Black". The title sounds like a Dungeons and Dragons magic item, so the music is sonically close to this theme as well, though, some impressive tension is established as the song winds around your head like a labyrinth. They allow for time to breathe with more spacious interludes of melody.
"Celestial Tyrant" plays it much safer, the call and response between the sung vocals and the growled vocals is much more predictable. They begin gliding down the more Mastodon-like proggy middle road. The one consistent element is great guitar playing. On "Beyond Our Minds" the drumming comes in at a close second. "the Torch"' charges in with straight-up death metal, though if you think of death metal in the more melodic European sense with plenty of guitar harmonies. Not really bringing anything new to the table with their version of it. The guitar solos cross over into having a little too much razzle-dazzle. After this the album shifts back to its more prog-minded direction. "Candescence" has more groove and darker shadows lingering around it.
They display their peak guitar prowess at the beginning of the last song. It is almost a blues jam of sorts and leads into the more prog-rock tension as the song unfolds. This has some of the best vocal lines of the album. The vocals are a restrained croon here. I will give this album an 8.5, this is their best work yet, not the most original thing I have heard this year, but they execute it in a manner that allows you to hear who they are, and really care about the songwriting this time around. Dropping on Season of Mist in August.
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pst243
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