It’s cool to look back on bands to see how they have evolved in a relatively short space of time. This album was released in 2010 and is full of polyrhythmic goodness, fat grooves and riffs, and delicate pieces that the band would take and evolve into the monster outfit they are today. I always look forward to new music from these guys.
Elegy kicks things off and is crushingly awesome with enough going on to keep mere mortal metal bands in ideas for their whole careers. Danny Walker is a phenomenal drummer and it’s sad that he is no longer in the band, but his indiscretions could not go unpunished. His drumming on Above lifts the song from what could have been a normal type of track, well normal for these guys anyway. Sunderance turns the heavy up to max with unreal drumming and some fat riffage to go with their trademark vocal melodies.
I know I keep going on about originality and how I’m drawn to bands with their own sound, but these guys are a one off and are just awesome to my ears. Core Relations and Past Tense have some great off time grooves with epic rhythms, but it’s the instrumental title track that is the most intriguing. It’s based around drums with a drum solo, and a guest appearance from Tool’s Justin Chancellor on bass.
Not their best album, but still better than most bands.
9/10 from The Grooveman.
