Forevermore - Integral review
Band: | Forevermore |
Album: | Integral |
Style: | Progressive metalcore |
Release date: | July 2016 |
01. I
02. Nascent
03. Noumina
04. Overlord
05. Order
06. Enterprise
07. Empath
08. Ikigai
09. Prism
10. Pandemica
11. Integral
Baseball is often called "the thinking-man's sport." This may be unfair, since huge degrees of both mental toughness and strategy are required for nearly all sports, but artful scheming, well-thought-out maneuvers, and evolving game-plans are vital to baseball. So, I keep listening to Forevermore and having the term "thinking-man's metalcore" come to mind. Progressive elements dazzle this record and show incredible depth and texture. Instead of just throwing musical paint against the wall, they laid down some highly purposeful aggression and melody to create a clear picture.
Yes, aggression AND melody. The balance of these is so well done, which is what keeps the sound fresh through all 11 tracks. So often metalcore, especially the melodic variety, can start off awesome and just be crushed under its sameyness after a few tracks. Integral keeps everything in beautiful balance. We get all the melody and beauty without sacrificing the extreme side of the music. Both clean and extreme vocals are done so well, and then the guitars go and prove that it's not JUST the vocals that determine whether something is melodic or extreme. Some really heartbreaking guitar leads smoothly caress us, while other times they rip mercilessly through our ears.
Subtle harmonies in the clean vocals give extra texture, layers, and a very slight creepy vibe that is most welcome. I've used the word beautiful and justly so. There are great yells and extreme vocals, but Integral also features some very nice singing. Bonus points for the lyrics being understood in all vocal styles, too. And here, that's a good thing. Integral tells the story of the development of the human mind, specifically via the theory of Spiral Dynamics, "which tells us that humanity has gone through a series of major shifts in our way of thinking" (per the press release). Lyrics show a bit of a Cassandra Complex, telling the story of a man granted immortality and witnessing these shifts throughout time.
Integral is out now on Solid State Records. Hear the first track "Nascent" below:
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Written on 12.08.2016 by
Susan appreciates quality metal regardless of sub-genre. Metal Storm Staff since 2006. Twitter: @HeavyMetalSusan |
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