Dreadnought - Lifewoven review
| Band: | Dreadnought |
| Album: | Lifewoven |
| Style: | Avantgarde metal, Black metal, Progressive metal |
| Release date: | May 03, 2013 |
| A review by: | Auntie Sahar |
01. Nascence
02. Lift
03. Deluge
04. Utopia
05. Immolate
06. Renaissance
Let's say you want to make a sandwich. You've firmly decided on white bread as your dough of choice, but being the s̶n̶o̶b̶b̶y̶ ̶a̶s̶s̶h̶o̶l̶e̶ sophisticated intellectual that you are you don't want to settle for a mere ham and cheese, that's just far too bland for your likings. So you go to the supermarket and stock up on $30 worth of ingredients to make this a sandwich more catered to your IQ points (and credit score). What results is a monumental supreme taste voyage of meat and vegetables whose numbers go beyond the limits of the human language?. or, in other words, an edible equivalent of Lifewoven, the highly impressive 2013 debut from American band Dreadnought.
The core sound of the innovative foursome that is Dreadnought lies in the progressive metal area, but not in the sense of Dream Theater-esque prog, or some type of djent-y Meshuggah ripoff with a bunch of overdone syncopation. Lifewoven is, more than anything, an homage to the classic prog acts of the 70s, especially Yes and King Crimson. Much like their progressive forefathers, Dreadnought weave a delicate compositional technique that has enough twists and turns to keep things creative and intriguing, but that isn't too overtly technical to digest. Whether it's the beautiful vocal melodies on "Nascence" and "Renaissance," the unorthodox instrumentation (including sax, mandolin, trumpet, and flute) on tracks like "Immolate" and "Utopia" or even the fat, audible bass tone throughout, with Lifewoven Dreadnought make it quite clear that they know how to craft music that is vastly multi-layered, but doesn't feel bloated.
In addition to the progressive core of the band's sound, Dreadnought also make use of a few simple, yet effective black metal elements, which at some points enhance the music, like in the middle of "Nascence," and at other points come to dominate it, like on "Deluge." While these extra flavors may not be abundant enough to regard Lifewoven as a full fledged progressive black metal album, Dreadnought manage to weave them in at just the right points in the composition, so that they give the songwriting that extra push it needs to create a more multi-faceted experience for the listener. With as wide an array of instrumentation and compositional techniques as Dreadnought make use of, one would think it would almost be counterproductive for the band to not bring them all out equally as crisply, and Lifewoven indeed does makes use of a very "round," all-inclusive production sound that helps to bring everything out and leaves no part of the music overshadowed.
Hearing Lifewoven reminds me a lot of the first time I listened to Negură Bunget, because it's very much the same type of listening experience. That is, there's a lot going on with the instrumentation, with a ton of non-metal instruments that help to create a mesmerizing, almost transcendental mood. To some listeners this may come across as unnecessary and pretentious, but fans of more progressive or otherwise off-the-wall forms of music will enjoy it for what it is: a highly intelligent album from a group of musicians trying to give us something that we haven't heard before. Lifewoven is easily one of the most well-composed albums I've heard all year, and for a debut it' sets some pretty high standards for Dreadnought to follow up on. If you enjoy strange metal that challenges convention and makes you reevaluate the way the genre can be delivered, then you know what to do. Hop to it, bitch!
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 9 |
| Production: | 10 |
Written by Auntie Sahar | 25.09.2013
Comments
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Comments: 38
Visited by: 533 users
| Draugen Posts: 500  |
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| Unhealer Eclecticist Posts: 2311  |
Nice review, it does justice to the record  Possibly best debut album this year so far.
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989  |
Written by Unhealer on 25.09.2013 at 18:50 This or Progenie Terrestre Pura's U.M.A., for sure
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| BloodTears ANA-thema Elite Posts: 11835  |
A very unique album, very promising stuff from this band. Not for everyone though, but that can be said about many bands.
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| CyberSymphony Ollie Posts: 673  |
Just listened to the album after reading this review and it sounds really really good.
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| -DC-002- Mastercommander Posts: 1703  |
Ill give it a go! In in like 10th grade for a computer software class one of the assignments was to make an album cover and I chose a metal-y one and named it Dreadnaught. its a good name but im just saying.... they stole my idea.
---- Coldgrits
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by -DC-002- on 25.09.2013 at 23:01 Apparently a Dreadnought is actually a type of battleship. Makes me wonder if they had that in mind when they named the band, that connotation sounds more like something a thrash band would go for 
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Written by Auntie Sahar on 25.09.2013 at 23:30 same with Manowar being a kind of jellyfish and a sort of warship. Nowadays I keep on thinking of the jellyfish because of the spineless music 
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Hallford9000 Posts: 242  |
It's jam metal. Sweet as strawberry marmalade or watching naked underage girls dancing in shallow ponds. The Camel fanboy in me has a massive errection.
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by Hallford9000 on 25.09.2013 at 23:55 A very worthy label indeed, it does get quite jazz-y at points, especially on "Immolate"
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Fat & Sassy! Elite Posts: 3857  |
I've been playing this one in my car a lot this last week during a few long drives. I like the album quite a bit, but I think it's more of a folk-prog album than metal. I'm not trying to start a genre-label war, but calling it progmetal would be a bit misleading. xD Also, the album cruises through with them jim-jams well... which is why, although I like Immolate, it totally sounds out of place and sort of knocks me out of the trance the album does such a job of putting me in. A minor gripe, but whatever. Excellent album played by excellent musicians! :3
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by Fat & Sassy! on 26.09.2013 at 03:46 No ill feelings, I try to be spot on with my labeling in my reviews anyway. I don't really listen to enough folk to judge though, I guess you would say that because of the non-metal instruments?
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| psykometal A staff guy... Elite Posts: 6101  |
Great review, glad to see you reviewed it after all. When I first listened to this album you were the first person who came to mind that I needed to share this with; part of why I staff picked it was because I knew it would be the best way to bring it to yours and a lot of other people's attentions.  BTW I'm going to guess that they knew what they were naming their band because of their official bio. Quote:
---- ~Zep, Database and Forum Moderation~ 
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| Fat & Sassy! Elite Posts: 3857 |
Written by Auntie Sahar on 26.09.2013 at 04:23 Partially. I mean, you got yer flutes and whatnot. But I also mean the calmness and apparent attitude of the music gives the music a moody, natural sound. Your definition of what metal is or isn't most likely differs from mine, so you can call it whatever you want. Your review gives a great description of the sound, and you deserve to be applauded. ^-^ I just found it really light on the metal elements. That's all.
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| R'Vannith ghedengi Elite Posts: 3099  |
I think it gets heavy enough on the longer tracks to be described as metal. Plus there's that lady shrieking at me in a black metal way.
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| -DC-002- Mastercommander Posts: 1703 |
Written by Auntie Sahar on 25.09.2013 at 23:30 ya right, I was thinking thrash or death metal for a name like dreadnaught, and most definitely not prog. A giant machinism of war is what I tend to think when I hear the word dreadnaught. Maybe some kind of viscous star destroyer.
---- Coldgrits
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| Diverge Posts: 1334 |
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| theembryo Posts: 161  |
A damn good, concise review, and with all of the above subsequent comments I oblige myself to check this out straightaway! With mentions of so many other bands I have enjoyed over the years as well here. Many thanks to the MS Community for the heads up!!
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| theembryo Posts: 161 |
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by psykometal on 26.09.2013 at 04:24 I'm flattered
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Dylan Posts: 93 |
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| psykometal A staff guy... Elite Posts: 6101 |
---- ~Zep, Database and Forum Moderation~
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by Diverge on 26.09.2013 at 05:41 I meant more in regards to the first two albums with the use of sax and flute, but I'll definitely give that track a peek for comparison
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| qlacs "The Quaker" Posts: 1547  |
Cover caught my attention. Went over to bandcamp, started listening... mm'kay so far, pretty good... then he started growling. OUch. It's pretty damn original, no doubts about it, but is it that good? Not for me.. I might give it another try later but the first experience of the vocals was terrible
---- 
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| psykometal A staff guy... Elite Posts: 6101 |
Written by qlacs on 29.09.2013 at 15:11 *she started growling. The vocalist is a female.
---- ~Zep, Database and Forum Moderation~
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| qlacs "The Quaker" Posts: 1547 |
Written by psykometal on 29.09.2013 at 15:45 hmm that explains a few things... still, I don't feel like into this, just plainly because of the vocals... instrumentally though it's pretty awesome
----
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| angel. Evil Butterfly Posts: 2419  |
Nice review which I mostly agree. If you haven't written on them in advance, I would write on them pages and pages and pages  , you saved MS from a fangirling review by that
---- The Fangirl.
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| psykometal A staff guy... Elite Posts: 6101 |
Written by angel. on 01.10.2013 at 18:51 Not really. We don't accept super long reviews like that. :p
---- ~Zep, Database and Forum Moderation~
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| angel. Evil Butterfly Posts: 2419 |
Written by psykometal on 01.10.2013 at 19:02 aha I know, but it could be fangiriling anyway( because I really enjoyed every moment of this album), no regulation about that I assume.
---- The Fangirl.
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| psykometal A staff guy... Elite Posts: 6101 |
Written by angel. on 01.10.2013 at 19:07 Nah, nothing wrong with a little swooning. I was just referring to it being super long. And you're plenty well welcome to still submit a review for the album; no rule against multiple reviews either.
---- ~Zep, Database and Forum Moderation~
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