Review Summary: A decent mix of metalcore, some elements of deathcore and the always popular Gothenburg sound. The Eyes of a Traitor have crafted an impressive debut, showcasing their excellent songwriting ability and competent technicality.
Decent metalcore and deathcore bands are hard to come across these days. Both scenes are saturated with an overwhelming number of copycat bands, who seemingly steal each others riffs, breakdowns and song structures. The Eyes of a Traitor are a band that treads the line between metalcore and deathcore, adding elements of the always popular Gothenburg melodic death metal into their sound to good effect. The band may not be particularly innovative but what they do is remarkably solid. This album, their first major release, showcases ten tracks of well written metal featuring all the elements required to make a brutal and interesting listen. Opening track Under Siege pummels the listener with its groovy riffs and interesting double bass patterns. Instrumentally, the band is relatively talented – the rhythm section is very solid, the guitars are interesting in terms of the riffs they produce and the vocals fit the music perfectly. Midway through Under Siege, we get a sort of breakdown section where the vocals twist into an almost hardcore shout. It’s pretty cool to listen to, as is the pleasant but short clean section included in the song which sounds particularly ethereal.
Like Clockwork continues with the same formula that the previous track displayed. Very melodic phrases of guitar reminiscent of Scandinavian melodic death metal feature in the intro. This is the first song on the album where leads feature a bit more prominently – these leads are pretty well written; melodic, tasteful and quite technical. Sweeps also feature in a number of songs on the album, notably in the intro of With Different Eyes and the monstrosity of a track Escape These Walls, which features an astoundingly groovy breakdown riff (as well as a hugely sick solo). The rest of the album follows suit - a mix of metalcore sections fused with Gothenburg-influenced parts. It's a very successful formula but after multiple listens could become a little tiring.
Overall, A Clear Perception takes a number of influences from a range of different genres and fuses them together to form what sounds like a relatively fresh sound. Whilst in essence the band aren’t reinventing anything or producing material that is considerably groundbreaking, if you are a fan of heavy music that is quite diverse then you should probably check this band out. As far as the modern British metal scene is concerned, The Eyes of a Traitor are up there with Architects, Ted Maul, and The Arusha Accord amongst others. This is a sure recommendation for most metalheads.
Recommendations
Under Siege
Escape These Walls
Echoes
