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Destinity - In Continuum review



Reviewer:
7.9

53 users:
7.83
Band: Destinity
Album: In Continuum
Style: Melodic death metal
Release date: October 15, 2021
A review by: musclassia


01. The Sand Remains
02. Reject The Deceit
03. Reflections
04. Shadows
05. Dawn Never Breaks
06. Architect Of Light
07. A Lucid Strain
08. Snakepit
09. Salvation

As much as it can be fun and exciting to find bands that explore the spaces between established genres to come up with something original and fresh, there’s a lot of joy to be had with finding a genre album that nails the style.

2021 is turning out to be a pretty exciting year for melodeath. We’ve already had albums from heavyweights such as At The Gates, Carcass and Insomnium, and there’s more just around the corner from Be'lakor, Omnium Gatherum and In Mourning to come within the next 2 months. Add to that strong recent releases from prog/tech-melodeath acts such as Inferi and Apallic, as well as promising debuts from the likes of Act Of Denial, As The Sun Falls and Ulthima, and there’s plenty for fans of the genre to get stuck into.

The latest potential nominee for the category in next year’s Metal Storm Awards comes from French band Destinity, who caused bemusement in 2012 for carrying the label ‘symphonic avantgarde death metal’ on their Metal Storm profile despite sounding every bit like a Gothenburg metal act. This confused discussion was what brought me to Resolve In Crimson, but it was the quality of the record that kept it on the verge of my radar in the coming years, such that I was intrigued to see how the band were getting along when I saw they had a new album coming out. It would appear that the years since have been rocky, as In Continuum is the band’s first new album in 9 years, a period during which their vocalist left and subsequently rejoined Destinity. Whatever troubles they’ve encountered in the intervening period, they seem to have managed to successfully overcome them, based on this new album.

I mentioned in the previous paragraph that Resolve In Crimson was clearly rooted in the Gothenburg sound, and that remains the case here; there’s plenty of frantic, energetic melodeath riffs on the likes of “The Sand Remains” and “Reflections”, amongst several others, that are clearly inspired by the likes of At The Gates and 2000s Dark Tranquillity, whilst the slicker sound and front-and-centre lead guitar hooks found on "Reject The Deceit" come from the more accessible areas of that scene. If you’re bored of the Gothenburg sound, there’s no point bothering with Destinity, as it’s unashamedly affiliated with it. If you do like the style, however, Destinity are highly adept at writing memorable, exciting songs within that sound.

However, it’s not just a Gothenburg rip-off; Destinity also takes some cues from the Finnish melodeath scene. By that, I’m not just referring to the Mors Principium Est-esque “Dawn Never Breaks” (featuring ex-MPE guitarist Andy Gillion), but the melancholic Finnish sound as a whole. It’s less of an ever-present feature on In Continuum than its Swedish counterpart, but between the brooding closing minutes of “Shadows”, the strong shadow of Omnium Gatherum lurking over “Architect Of Light” and the air of sadness lingering over the lengthy closer “Salvation”, its presence can be regularly felt on this record. I think it’s a strategy that works well; the two styles aren’t particularly disconnected, so it makes sense to employ aspects of both alongside each other, and Destinity have a good idea of how to implement them both within the same framework.

In Continuum is not a record that shines due to its originality. However, I’ve mentioned in a couple of recent reviews that I’m always down for some quality melodeath, and between the likes of Act Of Denial’s debut and this album, the Gothenburg sound is being well represented by some smaller acts this year. In Continuum is full of quality hooks, leads and riffs pretty much throughout, so if you’re a fan of the style, this record is well worth a spin or two.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 8
Songwriting: 8
Originality: 4
Production: 8





Written on 16.10.2021 by Hey chief let's talk why not


Comments

Comments: 7   Visited by: 123 users
17.10.2021 - 06:51
Rating: 8
Steiner
Great review. I'd happily wait another 10 years for their next album if it's as polished as this one. This feels like a 2021 MDM all-star. It also continues where Resolve In Crimson left off without sounding dated. These guys definitely worship at the Dark Tranquility altars of Character and Fiction and I fucking love them for it.
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19.10.2021 - 15:59
RaduP
CertifiedHipster
Staff
Was getting frustrated that I couldn't find this one on Spotify before realizing that they aren't called "Destiny"
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Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking
One day there will be no heart at all?
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19.10.2021 - 17:08
Deadsoulman
Elite
Destinity is an odd band. They've been pumping out consistently good albums for over 15 years while progressively shedding everything that made them unique in the first place. Since In Excelsis Dementia, they've always had that strong melodeath basis, but they used to do it with a twist that made it unmistakably their sound. Nowadays they sound like a Dark Tranquillity doppelgänger. A good one, mind you, but a doppelgänger still. If you compare Synthetic Existence (which is my favourite Destinity album) to this one, they've grown tighter, more focused, more refined and possibly more powerful, but they're also less remarkable and distinctive.

This album is actually really good but I think I would enjoy it much more if it was another band.
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19.10.2021 - 18:19
Rating: 8
musclassia
Staff
Written by Deadsoulman on 19.10.2021 at 17:08

Destinity is an odd band. They've been pumping out consistently good albums for over 15 years while progressively shedding everything that made them unique in the first place. Since In Excelsis Dementia, they've always had that strong melodeath basis, but they used to do it with a twist that made it unmistakably their sound. Nowadays they sound like a Dark Tranquillity doppelgänger. A good one, mind you, but a doppelgänger still. If you compare Synthetic Existence (which is my favourite Destinity album) to this one, they've grown tighter, more focused, more refined and possibly more powerful, but they're also less remarkable and distinctive.

This album is actually really good but I think I would enjoy it much more if it was another band.

Thanks for the insight, I did assume that some of their earlier stuff may have been less generic for them to have obtained the genre tag they had on the site when I first found them, but whilst I liked Resolve In Crimson, it wasn't something I liked enough to motivate me to delve into their back catalogue, so I've not heard any albums prior to that one by Destinity. It's an interesting progression by the sounds of it, and one that I can definitely see would be non-ideal for fans of their earlier material, so I am fortunate in my attempts to enjoy this record that I'm not clouded by their history
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19.10.2021 - 18:44
Deadsoulman
Elite
Well, that "symphonic avantgarde death metal" tag you mentioned in your review made me chuckle, because they've never been that (at least not on the albums I know, which is all of them except the first three). I can't imagine where that came from. Come to think of it, they started sounding more generic on album with XI Reasons To Believe, but even before that they tended to focus their live act almost exclusively on the pure melodeath part of their sound, so I guess that was the side they really wanted to explore.
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20.10.2021 - 17:05
Rating: 8
Blindearth
Mors Principium Est and Dark Tranquillity sound, love it!!!
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07.02.2022 - 04:51
Rating: 8
tintinb
Haha, 4 for originality. I guess the score sticks, considering the songs pretty much sound like any MDM band may have written it. The songs were still really well written, mind you.
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Leeches everywhere.
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