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Review Summary: ‘City Of Vultures’ may well be their key into the big leagues. Seemingly appearing on every festival bill and metal tour in their native UK, Rise To Remain have certainly been no slouches in raising their profile and fuelling the hype train which has steadily built around them. Yet, having cemented their live reputation, it has remained to be seen if the band could match their status on record, meaning that the polished and highly melodic ‘City Of Vultures’ will surely be lapped up by a hoard of eager, long suffering fans.
From the get go, the album proves itself to be the complete contemporary metal record. ‘The Serpent’ kicks things off with some furious riffing and a incredibly shifting vocal performance from Austin Dickinson, as he delivers guttural roars, rasping highs and a venomous mid range all within the first verse. It’s an undoubtedly violent opening, and reaches levels of brutality that prove difficult to match throughout the remainder of the album. Yet, although in places ‘City Of Vultures’ packs a serious punch, it is ultimately the melodious guitars and arena sized choruses that substantiate Rise To Remain‘s song writing credentials.
Lead guitarist Ben Tovey is without question the star of the show. His six string prowess, whether it be the lightning speed runs and glistening arpeggios of ‘Power Through Fear’ or the soaring abandon replete in ‘Bridges Will Burn’’, and his technical dexterity is consistently married with a sense of melodic timing and structure, making his guitar solos equally as impressive as they are stirring. The riff work is also stellar; ‘This Day Is Mine’ features some swaggering, southern rock attitude, whilst ‘Power Through Fear’ impresses with some sinister chord stabs.
Austin Dickinson, as previously mentioned, also shines with a welcome versatility. His harsh vocals, although employed far less frequently, infact show themselves to be more stirring than his clean performance, which given the album’s glossy production suffer from a slightly artificial and sterile edge. Yet, his ability to pen a hook is clearly evident, especially on the anthemic ‘God Can Bleed’ and single ready ‘We Will Last Forever’.
‘City Of Vultures’ ticks every box required of a up-and-coming mainstream metal act. Clearly talented and equipped with all the necessary tools for success, it’s difficult to foresee anything but an accomplished career for Rise To Remain. Already with a huge amount of exposure and experience under their belts, ‘City Of Vultures’ may well be their key into the big leagues.
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"Seemingly appearing on every festival bill and metal tour in their native UK, Rise To Remain have certainly been no slouches in raising their profile and fuelling the hype train which has steadily built around them."
They have been no slouches? I get what you're trying to say, but the wording is a little screwed up here.
"Clearly talented and equipped with all the necessary tools for success, it’s difficult to foresee anything but an accomplished career for Rise To Remain. "
This is definitely a personal thing for me, but when I start off a sentence with a clause like that that describes a specific idea (the band in this instance), I try to follow suit with that idea being directly after it, just to avoid confusion. For instance -
"Clearly talented and equipped with all the necessary tools for success, Rise To Remain are destined for a very accomplished career."
etc. And this last one is just a rule I follow, so it's not major at all. :P
Your review is very well-written, though. Pos for sure. This doesn't sound like my kinda thing, mainstream metal never pleases me too much
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I get what your saying dude yeah, we must just write alot differently :D
I know alot of people here will hate this, and understandably so, its very polished and melodic, but I've always been a bit of a sucker for this kinda thing. Cheers for the pos mate, appreciate it.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off
This is definitely more like 3/5. Everything about it is recycled and re-formatted like mid-00's metalcore 2.0. But what separates it from being average and largely enjoyable is the fact that the clean singing doesn't suck... ever, the riffs are sweet (even if they aren't new), and the structure of each song is tight so that everything is condensed and there isn't an unnecessary repetition or over-extension of specific parts.
I can't believe that you gave this a 4 though considering all of the essential sputnikmusic albums that have over 1,000 ratings and are only a .2 or .3 /5 higher.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Opinions. Those albums are sputnik essentials, not necessarily my essentials.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
I wouldn't even put this at a 3 : I wasn't overly impressed and this made it from play list to server filler rather quickly.
"Seemingly appearing on every festival bill and metal tour in their native UK, Rise To Remain have certainly been no slouches in raising their profile and fuelling the hype train which has steadily built around them."
They have been no slouches? I get what you're trying to say, but the wording is a little screwed up here.
I agree, I think it's the run on of the sentence here. Maybe something like:
Rise to Remain have appeared on what seems like every festival bill in the bands native home of the United Kingdom. City of Vultures proves that the hype built around the band's live performances is no fluke...
At least that's how I would have put it. Different stroke/different folks. Still, have a pos.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Cheers buddy 
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Good review. Disappointed that the bassist and drummer left, the drums were solid and the bass was great, especially for mainstream metalcore.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
The bassist is now in band called Axewound, with Liam from Cancer Bats and the main one from BFMV. They arent very good.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Matt Tuck. Fuck. The guy had a lot of potential too. Shame.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Yeah man thats him. Hopefully the drummer will pop up in something good, he was awesome, especially when you saw them live.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Hopefully! I hope the replacements are good though.
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checking this out now, it's not bad
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Awesome mate. It grew on me alot from when I first heard it.
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