Review Summary: All in all Adestria has delivered an excellent and unique addition to the extremely dry metalcore genre and anyone looking for some relief from the constant one cord "chug chug" that plagues it, should check out Chapters.
Chapters is Adestria's debut LP and calling it impressive would be an understatement. I discovered this band when I heard some buddies play them in the car on the way home from a show and I instantly fell in love. I am not usually one to listen to metalcore, but this album stole my heart. Chapters is everything you want in a metalcore album and nothing you don't. The vocalist Matt has an amazing range and he succeeds in delivering heartpounding growls, earsplitting highs and everything in between. Not only is Matt killing the unclean vocals, but he also delivers the cleans which are quite impressive as well. The full extent of his vocal capabilities are apparent in the song "More Than You Know" where it starts off slow and melodic and then ends in one of the most brutal segments of the entire album.
The musical talent of every one of the band members is quite impressive for Adestria being so underground. The two guitarists stay consistent throughout the entire album and they are almost always playing something unique and incredibly catchy. A good example of this would be about a minute into the opening song "Compromised" where they bridge together two choruses with an insane and melodic tapping segment. The talent of the two guitarists is also made known with a beautiful sweeping opening to my favorite song on the album "This Ship, A Coffin". The drummer Mike is also exceptional and he perfectly paves the direction of every song. Every instrument compliments the others perfectly. The easiest instrument to miss is the bass, which isn't too surprising since it is metalcore after all, although this is disappointing it isn't a cause for much concern.
The two biggest things this album has going for it are the lyrics and the production quality. The entire album is based off the bands favorite books, which may sound uninteresting to some, but I particularly enjoy this aspect because it makes each song feel as if it's telling a story and every song delivers a specific message. The production quality of this album is outstanding. Piano, violin, organ, trumpets and various wind pipes can be heard in the background of each song throughout the entire album. A turn off to some may be the two dubstep/techno segments during "Compromised" and "Scarlet Letter". I am usually not a fan of bands that throw random techno into their songs, but strangely enough I feel that since it is not overdone it actually fits quite well.
Chapters also features two guest singers, one is Tyler "Telle" from The Word Alive who can be heard during "Whiskey for the Soul" and the other is Scott Barnes from In Fear and Faith who comes in near the end of "Scarlet Letter". These cameos fit their respective songs perfectly and they provide an exciting bonus for fans of either band.
All in all Adestria has delivered an excellent and unique addition to the extremely dry metalcore genre and anyone looking for some relief from the constant one cord "chug chug" that plagues it, should check out Chapters.
