Review Summary: Hats down for Comity , let it be for their generosity and most importantly for "The Journey is over now" and it's perfectly calculated chaos.
First I should start with the presentations, the comity are a mathcore band currently with the throatruiner label located in France, their first real sucess was within "The Deus Ex-Machina As A Forgotten Genius" wich made it possible for them to tour with Dillinger, Converge, Breach, Cave in, and other bands in the same vein, They will then have many problems with record companies, broken projects and labels wich will make them stop temporarily after releasing their second LP "As Everything Is A Tragedy" in 2006. Finally when they found their current label they decided to go back to the studio and make one of their most experimental records yet: "The journey is Over Now" wich added many different new influences to their original mathcore sound.
These influences can be heard through the whole album, let it be for the swamp riff or droning on Part III, the sludgy bass highlighted in Part I, the Black metal influenced vocals showcased in Part I and II (because yes there is at moments a play with multiple vocalists, the lead one's voice reminds a lot of the black metal shrieks, but they never feel inappropriate and are incorporated well in the music) , and also the chaotic atmosphere wich also reminds black metal, the lyrics are inspired from a book written by Philip José Farmer called "To Your Scattered Bodies Go", they relate the story of a journey in search of answers and absolute that will end with nothing; A final influence from progressive can be felt in the whole record, especially in the entire disposition of the record wich is as you can see divided into 4 parts.
The first part with a lenght of 11 minutes 40 secondes showcases Comity's mathcore sound with its fast-paced riffing, little to no song structure and their more than competent drummer; The track in itself starts with multiple vocalists shouting out their joy about the journey that has begun, distorded guitars will drone along until an onslought of guitar and drums is unleashed with a small and subtle sludge to it; Then to add to the impression of chaos, a major contrast is set with a calm bridge of acoustic guitars and droning, the atmospheric bridge is then torn apart by both guitars who deliver multiple crescendos to then slowly delve into a slow and very sludgy playing rendered possible by our friend bass (the production being top-notch, we almost never loose the sludge-maying bass in the mix), after a while guitars will shriek in an almost botch-esque way, preparing yourself for the acceleration that is part II.
The second part is also the shortest with a lenght of only 8 minutes 22 seconds, it is also the most fast-paced track on the album, the few existing bridges are short and violently knocked down by the instruments, the vocalists are back and seem to be facing their own soundscape, the journey seems to have become tougher too since the main vocalist feels like this trip is crushing him down. From then on the rythm (if you want to call it that way) will accelerate at an almost frantic point, with the only calmer moments being destroyed. The atmosphere here is dense and heavy, although the speed and power of the instrumental will instantly cease after an amazingly powerful drumming, the last 5 seconds are calm and relaxed, wich will announce Part III.
The third part, set at a lenght of 9 minutes, starts with an acoustic guitar playing, a subtle electronic note accompanies it, peace seems to have returned.
The guitar then stops, and starts again with the drums playing; The drummer here shows that not only he can hold the band together and demonstrate raw power as seen in the precedent parts, but he can also accompany this instrumental track in a way that prevents it from ever becoming boring, later on a second guitar (electric this time) comes droning alongside the electric note, the atmosphere has changed into a mix of beautiful peace and opressing tension, a sort of calm before the storm, the said storm being part IV.
The fourth and final part, towering at an almost intimidating 22 minutes is very hard to put into words, the heavy math riffing is slowly returning as well as the vocalists, they seem angry as if the journey had turned up being useless, the said anger is transposed into the sound of the guitar, battery and bass, the sludgy playing has returned and becomes slower and thicker, the guitars intensify themselves and the drumming stands out with more relaxed playing than the other instruments. The sound will then calm down and drone before going back into it's insanity with the botch-esque guitar playing it's shrieks and the drumming showcasing more of it's power. After a while the instruments will calm down again, more than before this time, as if the adventurers were getting tired; So tired that sometimes the only instrument playing will be the drums, the journey almost seems over, the guitars go from distorsion to a more classic rock playing style. The vocalist screams once more that he is being crushed down, he will try and give some strengh back to the guitars that are building multiple crescendos, their resistance is vain for the calm will come back in a bridge. The bridge will then see our lead vocalist whispering amongst a battery trying to build back it's power and a droning from the guitars. After a while the men give a final musical attack and end up singing together, gladly affirming that they are living to then conclude their absurd journey with the drummer giving his final notes to part IV, one word comes in mind at the end of the part :Epic!
In the end "The Journey is Over Now" is one hell of a ride; It is incredibly dense and each new listen will reward you with new sounds and details that might have escaped you before. It has insane riffs,great drumming,many different influences, atmosphere and a subtle placing of the chaos that it generates, creating emotion and intensity without collapsing in itself either wich isn't an easy task. I just want to say Hats down.
Now that my review has ended, I'd like to ask you a favor; Would You Kindly forget every single word I just wrote, and then go pay your respects to this Comity of artists who have decided to share a years worth of work to You, for less than a Penny.......
