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Post by davo on Aug 28, 2012 13:52:15 GMT -5
I think I like the second song they've put up more than the first.
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Post by Kerrick on Aug 28, 2012 18:24:55 GMT -5
Agreed. Though I've only listened to each song once and will probably leave it that way until the album comes out. So my thoughts are subject to change.
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Post by Solid on Sept 20, 2012 22:53:21 GMT -5
So now that it's out...anyone's thoughts?
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Post by Kerrick on Sept 21, 2012 11:50:10 GMT -5
I actually like it a fair bit more than I was expecting. The songs they released prior to the album are probably my least favorite of the bunch (or at least will require the most time to grow on me). It's definitely heavier than their past albums and has some great intensity to it. I like the darker feel to it too, though definitely miss the more "fun" and experimental style of "classic" BTA. Overall it's certainly not half-bad though not my favorite BTA album either. Definitely worth the purchase though and has some great tunes!
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Post by Solid on Sept 21, 2012 13:55:08 GMT -5
I agree. Some of the breakdowns were not too shabby, but I still could less of them. I'm just curious how this new sound will shape the next record.
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Post by Azrael on Sept 21, 2012 20:32:16 GMT -5
Well here are my collected thoughts on this record:
It's a new genre for BTA. Actually, I'm a little glad about that. The old BTA had their way of doing things and I'm somewhat relieved to hear the new crew didn't bother trying to live under that mantle.
Another observation: this album is trendy. It's glitzy. It's topical. I'm not saying that to detract from it. It's another departure from traditional BTA fashion. This is probably the best deathcore/djent album I've heard. And yes, this album is djent. That is why it is trendy. I could recognize the distinct chug and rhythmic-central riffing from a mile away.
This puts BTA in something it really hasn't had too much of before: competition. When BTA was one of the sole legitimate Death/Deathcore acts infusing prog into its work, it was relatively alone in the field and by default a cut above the fold. Now that they moved into a more populated field of metal, it puts them in direct competition with Uneven Structure, Tesseract, Benea Reach, The Interbeing and other deathish djent acts.
The good news is that even against this competition, BTA still overwhelms the other options in deathcore/djent. The vocals are insane and Chris is the only legitimate successor to Wisdom in my opinion. These are the best vocals I've heard along with Ilkka's from Benea Reach.
Also the band used the low-end rumble as a tool to create, not as a means to its own ends. The album fits with the style. The djent doesn't feel like some sort of stylistic decision. I couldn't hear this album in d or c. The voice fits the words.
Also, the guitars are effing amazing. Dan is short. Dan can sling an axe. Dan is Gimli minus the beard. I've never heard so many notes so tastefully laid out. It was completely kosher with the Devin Townsend "wank only when wanking is called for" law. All of the pyrotechnics fell into place.
The atmospheric effects between the vocals and the synth all clicked and supported the material well.
The drums were punchy and exactly what was called for. I didn't hear any ridiculous fills, but I would have been annoyed if I did in the context of the music. There was just a lot of consistent work which popped and articulated the complex rhythms.
The bass held down the low end pound and lent some round fuzz to the sharpness of the djent guitar attacks. Very nice.
These are initial thoughts, but I think they are more or less how I'll end up thinking about this album. I do lump it together with Edge of the Obscure by The Interbeing, Februus by Uneven Structure, Alleviat by Benea Reach, Masstaden by Vildhjarta and One by Tesseract under the growing Djent movement (as opposed to Periphery and Meshuggah). This is by no means bad company and BTA holds their own as the deathcore/djent kings.
I'm happy to see djent done right and fearfully await what some trendy metalcore bands are going to do to the genre.
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Post by Kerrick on Oct 4, 2012 11:42:21 GMT -5
Well said sir, well said.
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Post by althrioan on Oct 10, 2012 6:36:33 GMT -5
Here are my thought written to mrmicheal at last.fm (slightly modified): I still don't know what to think about the new BTA album. It is a step into a new direction - which is good! -, but overall the songwriting lacks the individuality and awesomeness heard on albums of the past. I know that the whole team is new and is therefore missing the ability of songwriting the members before got in their unity. I love the dark atmosphere which can be felt and heard on songs like the weapon breaker and the war ender but it's to less. The atmosphere is just present at those two songs. And that leads me to the album as a whole which has some filler material on it (the sun eater, I am, the eyes of the storm) and is more a collection of songs than an album. I stated a few thoughts about I AM in the album shoutbox and left some comments towards individual songs in the "song shoutbox" if you like to comment those^^ Anyhow I think with enough time they will work better as a team and write some similar good tunes like on Dichotomy and CC - albums which were perfect in a way an album can be, there wasn't any filler material found imo - maybe not in the same vain but with a similar skill for crafting songs. If I'm informed right Daniel has written all the guitar stuff and therefore I'm not wondering that he hasn't hit the 100% mark of writing total awesome stuff - hope you get what I mean^^ But as said at the beginning I'm not through with a judgement - I haven't heard it enough yet to say that these are the last words I'll say concerning I AM. ouh and I like the post rockish / ambient keyboard line on the machine killer and the black metal keyboard vibe at the war ender or weapon breaker .. can't remember which one it was^^ It's a different band, a different sound and I like that sound but there just too few really good SONGS on it - there a many good ideas: the dark atmosphere, really good riffs, speed of the drums - which is used to less imo - some meshuggah'ish riffs (I refuse the word djent), some funny vocal effects ( ) and I almost forgot these really gooooood solos. On the last albums I loved the clean vocals and on this one there are not my cup of tea except for the Coheed and Cambria singers appearance at the planet maker and the ones in the first song.
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Post by Kerrick on Oct 10, 2012 11:04:39 GMT -5
Wait, this is a stupid question I know... but did Coheed and Cambria's singer really sing on it or was that just a joke???
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Post by althrioan on Oct 10, 2012 12:19:00 GMT -5
I thought it was a serious statement ... I'll look it up in the credits ... well it seems that there is no thanks to the CoH singer and no featue stated. Don't know it could be him, the voice feels similar and Jason stated at Thenewreview.net that the cameo is the best thing about the song^^
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Post by Kerrick on Oct 10, 2012 23:25:38 GMT -5
Interesting! Yeah the booklet nor Metal Archives have any info on that... Dang, now I'm curious!
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Post by althrioan on Oct 22, 2012 4:12:30 GMT -5
with time passing by I have to say that I really like the new album even if there a still a few songs / clean passages on it with which I can't connect ... but overall I like it.
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