Review: Becoming The Archetype | Dichotomy

Since Between The Buried And Me have recently crossed over from metalcore into straight up progressive metal, Becoming The Archetype have now stepped up and taken the crown as the most epic metalcore band in the genre. With Devin Townsend behind the mixing board on this attempt, and a slew of impressive instrumentation and musicianship, together the team delivered one of the more solid metal albums of the year with Dichotomy. Only a very few quirks keep this record from being the very best.

Becoming The Archetype have gone through a couple of member changes since their debut record, Terminate Damnation. After losing a few of the early guitarists, the band gained guitarist Alex Kenis of Aletheian who was most likely responsible for the ever so progressive The Physics Of Fire, released just last year. After losing Alex, the band regained original guitarist Jon Star. The mix up of the two guitarists may have helped the band keep diversity between the last two albums, as Dichotomy isn’t quite as beefy as the previous album is, but that doesn’t mean it’s not as good as The Physics of Fire. It may even be better.

Not only are the songs very well written on this record, but they couldn’t have been better produced, proving that Devin Townsend truly is a genius at what he does. One may not hear more soundscapes and clever effects present in a metalcore album as much as they will on this record. The addition of guest appearances from Devin himself, Ryan Clark of Demon Hunter, and soprano Susan Richter really keep the songs fresh, and although the track lengths may have been cut down a bit from the previous two records, the production really keeps these tracks sounding more epic than ever.

Speaking of that overused word, you really can’t leave it out when listening to the final track, “End of an Age”, which sounds like a medley between Becoming The Archetype, Opeth, and Amon Amarth. The repetitive yet beautiful ending to the song is a perfect way to cap off a great album, although it ends much faster than you would like. A song or two more would have made up for the shorter song lengths to keep this album ending a bit too fast.

Becoming The Archetype have successfully written three very solid records and are well on their way to securing their stand in a fizzling genre. With songs like “Mountain of Souls” and “Deep Heaven”, there’s no doubt they are pushing the envelope, creating the most unique sounds in modern metalcore, and diversifying the scene. Be sure to check out Dichotomy for your fix of earth quaking metal.

Score: 4.0/5

Today, the World is at War.

Call of Duty: World at War has come out today. Yes.

Today, Hope Runs Deep.

Gears of War 2 has finally come out. Go buy it.

Porcupine Tree Binge.

Need I say anymore?

Say Hello...

To your new president. :)

New Dredg!

Dredg have announced the release date for their new record. March 24th, 2009. Mark your calendars people. You will see tons of updates here when more news is announced about it.

Review: Trenches | The Tide Will Swallow Us Whole

Over the past few years more and more bands of different genres seem to be incorporating the style of post metal, showing off the influences of bands such as Isis and Neurosis, while the post metal bands themselves tend to try and keep a distinct sludge sound. Trenches are a post metal studio project whose most notable feature is the involvement of Jimmy Ryan, former vocalist of Haste The Day. Instead of going for a unique sound, the band seems to have fell into a wannabe Isis / Neurosis type of vibe on their debut, The Tide Will Swallow Us Whole.

A couple things are indeed unique though; one being the fact that Jimmy Ryan is actually doing vocals for a band like this. At times his signature, harsh screams sound surprisingly well over the sludgy areas of this album, especially the first song of the CD. Once the song flows into the more atmospheric sections, his voice immediately sounds out of place. There are actually a slew of different vocal approaches throughout this album from aggressive yelling to dull, careless singing to Chino Moreno mimicry attempts to low, beastly roars to some impressive vocal harmonies.

One of the better singing parts of the album comes at the end of the standout track, “Pathways”. The song’s structure and flow stand out from all of the other tracks, as nearly nothing is repeated and the aforementioned singing climax really separates this song from the rest of the album. The majority of the tracks, however, seem to have a simple verse/chorus/verse structure, leaving them tasteless and forgettable after a few spins. Some tracks also have awful sounding moments only to be followed by great moments later on. A good example of this is “Bittersweet”, with its tired singing and nu-metal palm muting, which later transitions into a breathtaking piano and organ section climaxing into some heavier sections with graceful atmospheric guitar leads.

The Tide Will Swallow Us Whole was once in a list of my most anticipated albums of the year, and it was later quite quickly added to my list of disappointments. The record is good, but it’s not nearly as good or as epic and impressive as expected. The amount of atmosphere on the album is minimal (unless all of it was saved up for the final 7 minutes of ambiance at the end of “Cornered”), and the sludge parts are extremely cliché. The song writing is bland and predictable, sounding like a sludge inspired metalcore band. Either way, I’m looking forward to a future release from Trenches. Here’s to hoping the band progresses with their songwriting and makes a unique post-metal sound of their own, rather than making a record filled with several other band’s ideas.

Rating: 3.0/5

It's Almost November.

And November will be the biggest gaming month of my life thus far and I can't wait.

Happy Birthday Me.

Today I turn 20. In 365 days from now, approximately 365 different people are going to attempt to get me drunk.

Happy Birthday Scott Weber.

Today Skillz Wack turns 48. Check him out!

Anticipated Release: Becoming The Archetype | Dichotomy

1. Mountain of Souls (5:16)
2. Dichotomy(4:25)
3. Artificial Immortality (3:58)
4. Self Existent (4:18)
5. St. Anne’s Lullaby (instrumental) (1:53)
6. Ransom (4:04)
7. Evil Unseen (4:04)
8. How Great Thou Art (4:29)
9. Deep Heaven (feat. soprano Suzanne Richter) (4:38)
10. End of the Age (6:30)

Third album from Becoming The Archetype. Their last album was progressive death metal with huge influence from Opeth. This new one seems to be a little bit more aggressive but still very prog and not as metalcore as their debut. I'm very excited to hear this as it's also produced by Devin Townsend. Comes out November 24th.

Worlds Collide: Release Date Correction.

I originally mentioned that on November 11th you will get your asses kicked by me.

The game actually comes out on November 16th. One of many games I'll be playing next month. You'll see a blog coming up soon displaying the rest of the reasons I'm going to explode in November.

Also, Ed Boon is not allowed to comment on this blog.

Cockroaches...

RULE.

After spending an awesome weekend in Pittsburgh with my girlfriend, I was lucky enough to spend the final 7 hours on a bus with these little fuckers. I especially enjoy when they crawl on your head! It tickles and makes me giggle. Why aren't their more cockroaches? I don't think we have enough in the world!

Copeland | You Are My Sunshine

01. Should You Return
02. The Grey Man
03. Chin Up
04. Good Morning Fire Eater
05. To Be Happy Now
06. The Day I Lost My Voice (The Suitcase Song)
07. On The Safest Ledge
08. Not Allowed
09. Strange And Unprepared
10. What Do I Know?
11. Not So Tough Found Out

Jacqueline is a big Copeland fan and over the four years we've been together I could never fully appreciate this band. Beneath The Medicine Tree only has four songs I enjoy, In Motion only has two that I like, for the rest I found to be extremely boring, and Eat, Sleep, Repeat racked up five whole tracks that I found myself going back to listen to. Simply put, I guess fourth time's a charm in this case because I've just finished my second full listen to Copeland's new offering, You Are My Sunshine, and I loved just about every minute of it.

Copeland does a good job of keeping the overall sound of their albums diverse, and the musical theme this album seems to possess is ambient, dreamy, quiet, and downright beautiful soundscapes. Another thing I've noticed is that Aaron Marsh's vocals seem to improve with each album, so by this record he sounds incredible.

One last thing to mention. The final track is the best Copeland song to date. 10 minutes of the same beautiful, somber melody with subtle changes thrown in. Dredgery abound, female vocals, piano, saxophone, and more and it's a great way to end the album. The melody sticks in your head for a long period of time after the songs already ended.

The band is streaming the new album on their myspace, and you can purchase it in stores on Tuesday.

And don't forget to check out Moving Mountains' new song off of their upcoming EP, Foreword.

Anticipated Release: Moving Mountains | Foreword

Track Listing:
1. Foreword
2. With One's Heart In One's Mouth
3. Armslength
4. Lights And Shapes

Incredible band. Awesome dudes. This is their new EP coming out next month. Go listen to their new song and pre-order the album. Now.

R.I.P. Zune 30gb

The fucker finally died! I guess it's time to upgrade.

EDIT: Well...it just randomly came back to life...Weird.

Tonight I Took The Pepsi Challenge

And Pepsi is fucking garbage.

Universes Collide

Get ready to get your asses kicked by me this November.

Intronaut | Prehistoricisms

Intronaut's 2nd full length, and 4th overall release, and it's their best yet. Progressive, funky, sludgy, atmospheric, and down right impressive. I recommend you picking this album up. Seriously.

1. Primordial Soup
2. The Literal Black Cloud
3. Cavernous Den of Shame
4. Prehistoricisms
5. Any Port
6. Sundial
7. Australopithicus
8. The Reptilian Brain
I. Sleep
II. Eat
III. Shit
IV. Fight
V. Fuck

Goodbye Shea.

There's always next year.

It All Comes Down To Tomorrow

This has absolutely nothing to do with music, but with the fate of The New York Metropolitans. Tomorrow is the last regular season game. They are tied for first in the NL Wildcard with the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brew Crew is pitching C C Sebathia on three days rest, and Oliver Perez, who pitched awful in his last offering, will start for the Mets.

The Phillies won the NL East, which makes me cringe more than hearing Converge play music, but right now, I'm excited to hopefully compete against them in the Playoffs. Depending on what happens tomorrow, you will either see a triumphant blog post, or a dismal as all fuck blog post. Randy Moss cannot wait to see the outcome.

Now onto a more musical note: dredg.

LETS GO METS!

Envy Playlist

Japanese screamo band, Envy are in my top 10 of all time. They released my favorite EP since Hopesfall's No Wings To Speak Of last year called, Abyssal. This year they've released two splits. The first split was with Jesu, and the second is the highly talked about Thursday/Envy split which is amazing.

I realized that if I took all the songs from these three Envy releases, and puzzled together an appropriate track listing, this could have been another masterpiece full length. So I went ahead and did just that. Here's what my track listing is for this playlist. It's 60 minutes, 10 songs.

1. Isolation of a Light Source - Thursday split
2. All That's Left Has Gone To Sleep - Abyssal EP
3. Conclusion Of Existence - Jesu split
4. Pure Birth and Loneliness - Thursday split
5. Thousand Scars - Abyssal EP
6. A Winter Quest For Fantasy - Jesu split
7. An Umbrella Fallen into Fiction - Thursday split
8. Life Caught In The Rain - Jesu split
9. Fading Vision - Abyssal EP
10. A Road Of Winds The Water Builds - Abyssal EP

----

This flows pretty much perfectly. If you choose to use this order, enjoy. Hopefully the band releases another full length next year. It'll more than likely be in my top 5 of the year.

Upcoming Anticipated Release: Fear Before | Fear Before

1. Treeman
2. I’m Fine Today
3. Fear Before Doesn’t Listen to People Who Don’t Like Them
4. Get Your Life Together
5. Jabberwocky
6. Everything’s Not Shitty
7. Tycho
8. Bad Days
9. Stay Weird
10. Review Our Lives

The band has went from 'Fear Before The March of Flames' to just 'Fear Before' and the new self-titled album hits stores on October 28th. The single, "Fear Before Doesn't Listen to People Who Don't Like Them" is on the internet and you should probably find it and listen to it. Another progression for the band and this time it seems they're getting more epic. Oh yeah, and there's a shitload of dredgery just in this song. Win? Yes.

First post: Thoughts on United Nations

I'll keep my first submission quite simple. United Nations are a decent band. But if you REALLY think they are power violence, or grindcore, or sound anything like Orchid, or Bucket Full of Teeth, than you should probably yank Geoff Rickley, and Daryl Palumbo's cocks out of each of your ears and actually listen to the music.