01. The Web of Lies
02. Sacred War
03. Winter Hell
04. Rejected by the Sun
05. The Day After
06. Drug
07. Wraith (Tied to Reality)
08. No One Cares
09. Confined
10. Guilty Conscience
Comentario:
1er álbum de ésta excelente banda española de agresivo y melódico Death Metal en la más pura línea Gothemburg a lo AT THE GATES, primeros DARK TRANQUILLITY, DIMENSION ZERO, primeros IN FLAMES, EUCHARIST...
THE DESCENT is a quite new band from the Basque Region in Spain. Around since 2006, "Dimensional Matters" marks their debut release. These guys sound like they went to the Gothenburg school of Metal. But they left school too early to find their own way. Bands like AT THE GATES, (early) IN FLAMES or (early) DARK TRANQUILLITY are not just the force behind this album, they are its blueprint. It is not wrong to call THE DESCENT copycats, since it is hard to find own ideas in their sound. After an electronic intro, the opener 'The Web Of Lies' shows the direction for the majority of the next 36 minutes: Melodic Death Metal, always on full throttle, with very few chances to catch your breath. And so it goes on with 'Sacred War' and 'Winter Hell', two songs which are hard to tell apart. The first song that really got my attention was 'Rejected By The Sun' with melodic choruses and mid tempo breaks that IN FLAMES didn't do better in their early days. Following 'The Day After', a quite dull midtempo track, is another fast and uninspired one called 'Drug', before the album loses its tension. 'Wraith (Tied To Reality)' just doesn't kick ass and even the electronically accentuated 'No One Cares' misses the mark. Then 'Confined' woke me up with its melodic solo break before 'Guilty Conscience' closes the album in the vein of the usual songs. THE DESCENT have surely done well, technically, but there's still way to go. The next album could be a killer, if they start to go their own way. Up to now, I can only find the good, pretty tight sound and two nice songs to their credit.
Melodic death metal from Xtreem Music? They usually concentrate on old-school death and thrash metal, so this was a surprice. And a nice suprice I might add, 'cus this was really, really good! I bet this dudes have a couple of Gothenburg, Sweden based bands in their collections, 'cus it reminds a lot of bands like IN FLAMES.
This is the debut album from these Spanish dudes, and I look forward to hear some more with them in the future.
Well, this is a must for all fans of melodic death metal! And it tastes extra good together with some beer.
A way back to the hungry days, a path back to the old days, the good old early 90s. Some would say that throughout the 90s, especially mid to end, Death Metal became something else as it began to sound more polished, compressed and modernized. However, those were the years where the Swedish kind of melodic Death Metal received more recognition as a worthy sect of Death Metal aimed to please every Metalhead. Following the same old ideas of the Swedish realm, this here material of the new album named “Dimensional Matters”, by the Spanish based THE DESCENT, took references from the mid-90s of genre as it began its modernization process. Not that the THE DESCENT bested with their newly found debut, but generally, they made their point. Not with an impact but with a clear message that they are here to stay in order to recapture that old melodic flame on their own.
Near the entire tracklist of “Dimensional Matters” is a full spread show of force. THE DESCENT fight hard with robust rhythms displaying the usual genre’s melodic twitches, rapid fire from the skins, crude bass providing fine coverage for the licks and an Friden & Stanne influenced vocalist rattling way ahead as if his life depends on it. On the other hand, following the band’s energetic perception towards their compositions, THE DESCENT more or less reprised the same moments that I am sure you have heard like a thousand times or maybe more. Sure fans of melodic Death Metal would find themselves bloody headbanging to explosive tracks as the violent opener of “The Web Of Lies” or the melodic blisters of “Winter Hell” and “Wraith (Tied to Reality)”. Truthfully so was I right from the first listening session, yet as I continued on listening to the rest of the songs, I noticed how single patterned this band is. They really enjoy what they are playing no doubt, but how about crafting something more original that would actually remain as a sweet memory to one’s ears, especially for new listeners. “Rejected By The Sun”, what I believe to be the album’s top notch example of how a few elements of Heavy Metal along with slight Hardcorish natured characteristics that created a sort of easiness within the song’s structure along a somewhat classic oriented chorus, can be examined as a sort of variance. Though out of the Gothenburg domain, but still a little diversion off the band’s steady course. In a way it sounded like a song taken from commercialized IN FLAMES’s “Reroute To Remain”, but one can win them all right?
“Dimensional Matters” demonstrates equal cosmic ideas that have already been infested upon by the old gods of melodic Death Metal. Actually it made sense to me because eventually reality will come back to haunt with its echoes and the future that will be undoubtedly chasing its steps. I have always been mystified by those perspectives about the life, the future and how we are in charge of our own destiny. THE DESCENT are also in charge of their own kismet. As it would seem to be, they truly have the sufficient knowledge of how to produce a late 90s Swedish Death Metal album and even hired the right producer to cater the right type of sound for their cause. Yet I assume that after “Dimensional Matters” and the arrangements for a possible sophomore, one day they would want to find their true selves. Therefore I will sum this up by writing the following: A nice release, great attitude, strong riffing though obvious and recurring while also lacking inventive lead guitar displays (whether soloing or articulate licks), definitive vocals and a hell of a sound. I would be expecting more out of this Spanish crew on the following release.
Spanish metalcore quintet The Descent sure know how to pack a punch when songwriting, which is easily proved on their latest release 'Dimensional Matters'. If you're a fan of the whole Swedish death metal scene then The Descent are destined for your listening pleasures. The entire initial sound given here boasts a phenomenal amount of influence raging from In Flames, At The Gates, Soilwork, Dark Tranquillity, The Haunted, and so much more. 'Dimensional Matters' is literally raped with the exact similarities as those bands.
Fiery retching screams scatter the ten tracks within collaborating with confidence as well as realising what true potential really exists on the album. From starting track 'The Web Of Lies' to album-ender 'Guilty Conscience' there is no wasted effort in vocals, nor any instrumental bore. Melodic enchanted guitars dazzle the listener, sometimes frantic, other times pacing the riffs into intelligent patterns that only few genres of metal are truly capable of.
Where there is skill, there is also room for improvement; as the album is somewhat a defective listen as the play count rises. Whereas In Flames etc know no boundaries in dividing their talent throughout an album, it would appear The Descent still need to realise where breaks are needed, and when enough is enough of rapid guitars and shrieking vocals, which can be done such as the brilliant 'Rejected By The Sun' - a standout track from this album. That's not to say the rest of the album is complete tosh, take these words as a piece of constructive criticism for a next release that I believe could actually become a glorious, stunning effort to top 'Dimensional Matters', as if it were merely toilet water in comparison.
Desde España y a traves de Xtreem Music nos llega este "Dimensional Matters", disco debut de la banda de Death Metal melodico THE DESCENT. Vale aclarar que esta banda es española porque si no lo dejo en claro y alguno escucha el material, seguramente pensará que se trata de una banda sueca que intentará subirse al trono del Death Metal melódico con el cual en su momento brillaron grupos como SOILWORK, IN FLAMES o DARK TRANQUILLITY.
Es que esa versión de rapido, agresivo y directo pero también melódico Death Metal es lo que este quinteto vasco presenta aquí de una manera realmente fantástica. Si luego de escuchar el opener, "The Web Of Lies", alguien me decía que este era el nuevo material de AT THE GATES, posiblemente lo hubiera creído. Esta bien, la voz de Charlie no es igual a la de Tompa Lindberg, pero el resto no tiene nada que envidiarle a la que sea tal vez la banda más conocida de Gotenburgo. Pero ojo, porque si bien las influencias mencionadas mas arriba son claras, THE DESCENT no suena como una copia descarada. Claro, no inventan la rueda ni descubren la pólvora, pero este disco está tan bien compuesto y ejecutado, que no me molesta en lo absoluto.
Temazos como "Sacred War" o "Wraith (Tied To Reality)" tranquilamente podrían haber formado parte de la mejor época de IN FLAMES (cuando les interesaba el Death Metal y no la moda) o SOILWORK (idem). Todo esto, redondeado de una genial producción, de teclados posicionados en el lugar exacto sin sonar exagerados y riffs en un 95% realmente efectivos, hacen de este disco una verdadera sorpresa que hace que cierre el año con una sonrisa. Y esperando, obviamente, escuchar pronto más material de THE DESCENT.
O death metal melódico sueco causou um impacto tal na cena que mesmo agora, dissipada que está a febre do metalcore, continuam a surgir bandas influenciadas por nomes como At The Gates, In Flames ou Dark Tranquillity. Os bascos The Descent acrescentam ainda à sua lista de influências nomes como Eucharist ou Dimension Zero neste disco de estreia, fazendo de «Dimensional Matters» uma espécie de entreposto sueco em Biscaia. A coisa é tão bem feita, com tamanha precisão nas melodias, riffs cortantes e fúria rítmica, que pode ser facilmente confundida com um disco de uma banda sueca de final dos anos 90. Obviamente, uma proposta desta calibre tem a dupla face de agradar de estalo a quem tem um fraco pelo death metal melódico de Gotemburgo, mas padece de originalidade ou mesmo alguma personalidade musical própria. No entanto, desconfiamos que os The Descent se estão borrifando para a originalidade e querem apenas fazer a música que lhes agrada. Neste caso, death metal melódico, dinâmico, agressivo e perfeitamente identificado com as propostas pioneiras da Suécia de há duas décadas atrás. Objectivo (plenamente) cumprido!
All that I know about The Descent is the things that they said in the interview that I did with them. Yet I can’t help feeling that this album will be a highlight of the year for me. Minor or major time will tell. I’m not too fussy about the music being commercial or not. All I go for is if it is any good. This is metal for those of you whom like me think that In Flames and Dark Tranquillity are the epitome of the Gothenburg sound. Throw in all kinds of bands from Gothenburg (Gardenia, Taetre etc.) with that characteristic sound and you’ll end up with The Descent in the end. I like this. I could listen to this for hours and not tire. Perhaps not the highlight of the year that I had hoped for but a strong enough melodeath album to make it melodeath of the month.
Aus Spanien hört man ja im Moment nicht viel gutes, Zeit das zu ändern. Mit The Descent zum Beispiel. Die junge spanische Band hat mit "Dimensional Matters" soeben ihr Debütalbum veröffentlicht. Und das ist ein auffallend starkes Stück geworden, sowohl vom Klang her als auch von der musikalischen Qualität.
Melodic Death Metal ist das Grundgerüst, flott und eben melodisch, ab und zu etwas thrashig angehaucht, eher modern als old schoolig. Wie schon erwähnt geht man recht flott zu Werke, aber ohne das das melodische Element vernachlässigt wird. Das zaubern die beiden Gitarristen herbei, und da die beiden Gitarrenhelden ihre Arbeit bestens abliefern kann sich Sänger Charlie voll und ganz auf seine Vocals konzentrieren. Diese sind gut hörbar, aggressives Keifen und Fauchen gibts geboten, vielleicht könnte er noch etwas dran arbeiten aber für ein Debütalbum ist das schon stark.
Und das alles wird begleiten vom allzeit präsenten Drumming, kraft und druckvoll, aber nie zu vordergründig und mit meistens hoher Schlagzahl.
Dezent mit eingearbeitete Keyboardflächen unterstützen das Allgemeinbild, sind aber wirklich nur dezent im Hintergrund plaziert und nie zu dominant. Manche Songs verzichten auch ganz darauf. Die Songs an sich sind straff arrangiert, bewegen sich alle zwischen 3 und 4 Minuten Spielzeit und somit endet dieses Werk nach 36 Minuten.
Alles in allem moderner melodischer Deathmetal, etwas In Flames, etwas Demonical, etwas At the Gates und Dark Tranquillity. Ein starkes Debüt einer mir völlig unbekannten Band die man aber im Auge (oder im Ohr) behalten sollte.
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