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Bilocate - Summoning The Bygones review



Reviewer:
7.7

136 users:
8.23
Band: Bilocate
Album: Summoning The Bygones
Style: Death doom metal, Extreme progressive metal
Release date: June 2012


01. The Tragedy Within
02. Beyond Inner Sleep
03. A Deadly Path
04. Passage
05. Dead Emotion [Paradise Lost cover]
06. Hypia
07. 2nd War In Heaven
08. A Desire To Leave
    1 - Obscurity
    2 - Surrounding Hell
    3 - ...Of Leaving

Summoning The Bygones is another one of those releases that feels like it's a lot of really interesting, well-thought out components, combined together make an underwhelming experience, all things considered.

It's incredibly conflicting, is what it is. On one hand, it consists of a lot of cool symphonic, melodeath, doom and progressive parts. It's got a lot of depth, and a decent amount of variation. Everything seems to be lined up to make this a unique kind of masterpiece, right? Well, not really. Granted, there will undoubtedly be a number of people out there who will rightfully find something mind blowing about Bilocate's newest, so it's not exactly an album to discourage. The problem lies in the fact that these songs don't really feel like songs, but rather a band showcasing all the cool stuff they can do. This factor definitely makes it a riveting listen at first, but once that initial feeling of spontaneity wears off, Summoning The Bygones gets pretty dry.

That's the whole problem, really. Bilocate's strongest point seems to be their ability to gracefully slide from one sound to the next. Yes, the individual segments are done extremely well, but not out-of-this-world unheard of. The over abuse of the genre-jumping (from some type of symphonic-death-doom to meloblack/melodeath and a bunch of shit in between) eventually kills their big draw point.

All song structuring issues aside, this is still an album worth checking out, as previously stated, it does have its fair share of interesting aspects. Those of us who put more value on song cohesiveness may find this one a bit tedious.





Written on 12.06.2012 by Former EIC. Now just a reviewer guy.


Comments

Comments: 6   Visited by: 229 users
12.06.2012 - 12:31
Rating: 7
Nefarious
Doom Knight
I tend to agree. I was a big fan of 'Sudden Death Syndrome' & this album just seems over-complicated & melodic in comparison. I need to give it a few more spins though.
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"FUCK!!! You're the fucking 5th person asking me in an interview about the woman in the bathtub?The problem is that I AM the fucking person in the bathtub, and I AM a fucking MAN, for fuck's sake! I hate you all!" ~ Herr Morbid
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12.06.2012 - 17:16
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
I honestly felt like there was a lot more to say about the album. The more progressive songwriting approach they took this time around kept their songs bouncy without stagnating and the upbeat melodies created a far more catchy appeal that wasn't as apparent on their debut. Sometimes their back-and-forth genre-jumping can become a little frustrating at times when you just start getting into a specific set of riffs that cater to one style, but that shouldn't be enough to disregarded the songwriting as showboating. I think their technical prowess is matched by their ability to blend several different elements together without losing cohesion.

Tracks like "A Deadly Path", with its traditional heavy metal soloing and buoyant piano work, provide the album with a ton of energy and vigor. The closing trilogy makes for an excellent emotional journey but never strays into overly atmospheric territory, being that the album's main drive is more progressively riff-focused and technically driven. Not only do they bleed shades of Opeth, but the subtle gothic vibe given off also reminds me of some earlier Paradise Lost, a band they appropriately chose to cover given the similarities between their sounds.

Overall I probably wouldn't rate this much higher than a 7.7, but I felt like there was a lot left unsaid about the album's strengths.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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13.06.2012 - 18:53
Merchant of Doom

Well, it lacks a bit of cohesivity, with some tracks going in all directions and with sudden changes of style, but there are some brilliant moments on it. It takes a few spins to digest. Hypia is a fantastic track, for example. I would have rated it 8.0, myself.
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16.06.2012 - 23:04
Fredd
Account deleted
Well, 7.7 isnt much less than 8 which I feel this album deserves, but the review doesnt mention any of the positive elements.
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20.06.2012 - 18:26
Blackror

1st track is little catchy and rest rest of the stuff is again opeth kinda feeling
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blackror
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21.06.2012 - 05:46
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Written by Blackror on 20.06.2012 at 18:26
1st track is little catchy and rest rest of the stuff is again opeth kinda feeling

I don't think I can recall a time when Opeth had so much going on at once. :/

Acoustic interlude - jazzy instrumental moment - death metal passage with growling then clean vocals - back to some jazzy moments - and more acoustic work.

Rinse and repeat, more or less. At least Bilocate managed to incorporate all kinds of different elements into their mix.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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