09.06.2024 - 03:18Rating: 9
Man, have to say, this was a banger ! CJ and the guys have been through a lot and all things considered, things ended fairly well.
The album is brutal and engaging almost to its entirely starting with two of the singles, King and Force-Fed, both excellent tracks. But you clearly can hear that they were re-recorded/remixed for the album release. While personally I much prefer the mix in both singles, mixed by Nico Beninato in a much more balanced and clear mix, none of the songs lose their charm and impact.
Then we follow to Crimson Vision, which is very straightforward. Heavy, fast and straight to the point.
Next, we got their latest single, Showcase Ov Phlegm, showing a much more melodic side of the band, the leads and riffs are very reminiscent of melodic black metal with CJ's vocals following the melodies all around. Sound much clearer than the music video version as well. Next four songs are totally new.
Starting with Sacrificial Submission, we have some really cool guitar leads, a ferocious drumming and Cj playing with his vocals, using highs and lows. There's a really interesting use of a piano in the bridge too.
Home Out Of Hell is easily on my top three of the album. I would say it's the most "elegant" of the album and where the whole symphonic elements shine. It's a song with a dark and melancholic feeling. Love the piano, choirs and the melodic guitar throughout the whole song.
The follow up is Painless Execution, and we go back to the brutality of the early songs. There's no room to breathe, with a great vocal performance, insane drums and with some chugging guitars and nasty breakdowns.
Into The Fog (Isolation) is the next one, and this one at the moment is my least favorite. By no means a bad song but except for the breakdowns, there's nothing new here and sounds with something that we already heard before, it's the typical deathcore track (a good one though).
And when we could start to feel that they're getting tired and we could get some same old same old, they strike us with the two last songs. There Is No Light is the first single of the record that they released and while a great song, a poor and muffled production damaged the insane song that this was. Gladly, this is basically fixed here with a much more punchy drums and probably the best vocal performance of the entire album, CJ vocals are disgusting and versatile here, like, the man literally spits in one of the many breakdowns of the song, just a pure banger.
Coming to the last song we have Forevermore, the most well crafted song of the entire album. And I may say this can, and probably will be, my favorite of the entire thing very soon; Once again the melodic aspects are highlighted here, with a really cool piano, choirs and a very melodic chorus with CJ screaming at the top of his lungs, literally. You can definitely see that this is the song that he really wanted to release, that is the message he wanted to pass. After being kicked out of a band that he helped to put on the map becoming one of the most preeminent bands of the scene (also by their own merit of course) and everyone turning their backs against him, in a moment when he needed the most, having financial and logistical issues create what would be his comeback album, everything comes to an end with this ferocious and probably a very personal track.
At the end I can't say everything is perfect. I would really love a louder and more prominent guitar, the mixing while a step ahead of the Showcase Ov Phlem single has its problems, sometimes with way too much bass, sometimes with too much distortion, but all of this can't exclude the fact that they create the album without a record label, probably short in the financial aspect and considering this is their debut, I think it's an excellent album, with excellent musicians and with a proper producer, they will definitely earn the recognition they deserve in time being. Very excited to see what they'll do next and as soon as possible I'd love the see these guys live.