Review Summary: Too convoluted and disjointed to make for a competent album that embraces what progressive metal should be.
One of my favorite bands in the ever-expanding metal genre is Between the Buried and Me. My first listen to their self-titled debut and I was immediately hooked. From then on, I’ve managed to follow them with each release all the way until last year with their arguable masterpiece Colors. The experimental and technical insanity, sometimes absurdity, was always what reinforced my faith in BTBAM as a contemporary landmark act in the progressive metal field. Such progression has been the reason for their major acceptance, and also some opposition. Progressive: It’s a common word that defines uncommon style and it seems to be incessantly slapped onto many bands nowadays…however it is rarely ever merited. Progression: one can only understand that it has the potential to garner extol as equally as it can antipathy.
With that being said, enter the young Washington D.C. “progressive” metalcore act Adonis Decay. Progressive? Some aspects may be but as a collective, it is far from it. But I wouldn’t go as far as to say that they are talentless rip-offs or music-illiterate muddlers either. Instead, they seem like they understand the overcrowding of the metalcore field and, with this understanding, desperately attempted to incorporate a million elements into a hopefully cohesive EP. The result was not very good.
The first half of the opening track “Leviathan” is a clear indicator of how they want to be like the progressive powerhouses, as well as incorporate many other genres and heavy music aspects. The approach here is obviously one of inexhaustible amalgamations. There is plenty of variety in vocals to be heard ranging from a the dominant mid-high ranged scream, to the lower screams, to the pig squealing growls, as well as some swooning singing. Yes, and I mean each of these vocal styles are featured in this single song alone. Near the end, there is also this back and forth dualing between the pig squeals and the normal screams that sounds like the repetitive staccato screams at the end of At All Cost’s “Ride Through the Storm.” This is the definition of overcrowding and abuse of variety.
The second track “The Red Beyond” is perhaps the better of tracks on the album, but clearly, it is the one that falls the most under the BTBAM shadow. The soothing vocals under the catchy and pumping riffs of the introduction sounds much like BTBAM in their subdued moments. Within the five minutes and forty-five seconds of this song, you’ll hear a couple solos, ambient and tranquil passages, heavy chugging, and driving riffs, amongst other things. There are many parts that sound potentially intriguing but the flow is so rigid or unsmooth, and ultimately disappointing. The best example is perhaps the conclusion: it just ends! The instrumental onslaught slows down and things stay predominantly calm but a quick resolving note seems to leave things in the middle…just hanging. Like several other sections of the album, brief moments like that seem to completely negate any hopeful of phonaesthetics.
There are plenty of odd time signatures but they lack the coherency of say The Dillinger Escape Plan, Veil of Maya, The Red Chord, and such. Coherency and cohesiveness are the two most dire of characteristics necessary in such a technical and boundless genre. And these two characteristics just happen to be the most desperately needed in this album. When I think about bands that tend to construct songs with a lengthy and technical approach, such as Between the Buried and Me, Veil of Maya, Last Chance to Reason, and even Blotted Science and The Human Abstract (Nocturne), I can easily hum along to their songs after a few listens and know what parts are coming up…because it makes some form of sense as sporadic and random as it may initially seem to be. Such is not the case with Adonis Decay. It’s a tossup on whether or not an expectation should be met…and usually if you guessed correctly, it’s because it is rather unoriginal.
But I cannot say these guys are talentless. In fact, they are damn good at what they play. If they were average musicians, they would not be able to record any of this…and certainly, live performances would be a joke. However, these guys are young, and perhaps with a little more maturation and another couple releases, they may be able to construct something that can line them up in the right direction. There are some enjoyable moments, but they are usually dissipated by its ridiculous surrounding sections. Just like the music, your enjoyment and resentment of this five-song release will oscillate endlessly, most likely resulting in cacophonic frustration.
