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When designing a modern metal album, innovation does not come standard. Whether it’s metalcore, deathcore, hardcore, etc., most bands seem to follow certain formulae and limit pushing a genre forward. Coming out of the great state of Maine (Yes, Maine), Last Chance to Reason has decided to push genre boundaries; at the same time, they acknowledge their influences, which range from Cynic, Between the Buried and Me, and even Rush. This album perfectly executes what should be great about modern progressive metal. The vocals effortlessly switch between deep (but coherent) growls to spacey, almost Cynic-like, beautiful cleans. The musicianship is at least equally as impressive, with the sonic dexterity to switch seamlessly from chaotic blast-beats to synth solos to fantastic vocal melodies, all in one song. The only complaint is that the lyrics are not excellent, but they fit in very well with the computer-themed concept. Oh, and if you like what you hear, you can play along. The band has created a video game inspired by Metroid and Contra, and can be downloaded at http://lastchancetoreason.wordpress.com/ to fully immerse the listener into the experience. With great releases so far from Between the Buried and Me, The Human Abstract, and Scale the Summit, this album is a strong contender already for album of the year.
Stream: “Programmed for Battle”
| other reviews of this album |
Insurrection (3.5)
The eclectic offspring of Between the Buried and Me, Cynic, and The Contortionist....
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Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off
I'm aware it's a short review, but finals are getting in the way, and this needed more than soundoffs.
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Yeah, man, but short reviews need a balance. Can't let brevity get in the way of presenting the information.
I would look at ConsiderPhlebas reviews, the dude is brilliant at this type of review..
Also the advertisement for the videogame really doesn't need to be in the review, as it's basically irrelevant. Put that
shit in the comments.
solid write though.
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This had a few cool songs on it
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...So it's a video game soundtrack?
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I have the feeling this is going to be a mostly love or hate album. On the love side, its like cynic and metal like meshuggah banged, while also have some core influence
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I have the feeling this is going to be a mostly love or hate album. On the love side, its like cynic and metal like meshuggah banged, while also have some core influence
same, though i'm pretty stoked to check it out. i need something to offset my disappointment with born of osiris and most of the other metal out this year.
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I'd say there's a lot of BTBAM on this
| | | Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off
Yeah there's a big BtBaM influence, but outside of a couple moments in the album, I didn't think they were ripping them off.
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I don't think so either. Hell, because of the overpowering concept of this album I'd think they sound closest to Journal than any other band.
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Just because they sound like BTBAM in certain places doesn't necessarily mean they are ripping them off.
Very original, awesome stuff here. Didn't know they had a video game for this though.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off
Album is epic. Apotheosis is just amazing.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
This album is the offspring of BTBAM, Cynic, and The Faceless. It's fucking terrific.
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Best album of the year. Better than PTH and BTBAM respectively. They are both my absolute favourite bands so that's saying something.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off
Excellent album.
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the lyrics are laughable, instrumentation is pretty solid though
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
The amount of synth work on this album is too much for me... I also hate the electronic sounds/tones (however you describe it) chosen. The concept also seems a bit ridiculous... Maybe they will make an album I will like in the future though.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
album rules so hard
| | | Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off
Realized what one of my issues with this is: the vocoder vocal stays really flat as opposed to when someone like Paul Masvidal uses it with a full vocal range. This stays at about one tone.
Still good, but that aspect gets more repetitive than it should.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
Lyrics arent supposed to be groundbreaking, considering the concept.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
It's a good thing I couldn't care less about the lyrics and thusly never have the urge look them up. That said, this is pretty good album. Like it's been said, a nice blending of some great influences. Cynic, BTBAM, and The Faceless is right on the money.
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