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Review Summary: Death without distraction. Having formed a mere six years ago, Sweden’s Usurpress have already carved out quite a unique path for themselves. This year’s The Regal Tribe marks the quartet's third full length album, presenting a sound that combines traditional death metal with equal parts doom and progressive elements. Simultaneously original and yet undoubtedly reminiscent of eras past, the band’s effortless and organic combination of influences yields impressive results. Aided by a warm and full production together with an inclusive mix that never neglects the bass guitar, nor the assorted embellishments, this collection of tracks parades an inviting atmosphere that many of Usurpress’ contemporaries continue to lack. The band members choose to forgo the cold and clinical approach modern death metal seems to favour, instead presenting a wide variety of tones and styles, ranging from aggressive tremolo riffs to Opeth-esque saunters through keyboard-and-synth-kissed instrumentals.
Right from the album’s earliest moments it’s clear that The Regal Tribe will not be your typical death metal fare. Opener ‘Beneath the Starless Skies’ seduces listeners the with an airy sounding arpeggiated riff, blanketed by solemn bass lines and an underlying melody in the background. It’s not until a short time passes before Usurpress reveal the real meat of their sound; chunky and aggressive death-doom with energetic drumming and a gurgling bass presence. Suitably thick riffs that are neither sludgy nor fuzzy, yet reject being thin or piercing, give these Swedes a solid foundation to work with. The real hero of this album is certainly the songwriting, in tandem with the completely organic way the members work together. Equally capable of creating moments like the sombre piano-dominated ‘The Halls of Extinction’ as they are at tackling something as belligerent as the album closer, this album’s success is all down to the fantastic way everything is pieced together. Usurpress also make use of small transitory pieces that lead off from one track and onto the next nearly seamlessly, giving the album a cohesive feeling that allows some drastic evolutions in style to appear smooth and sensible. In addition to the album’s range as a whole, individual tracks pass through myriad sounds and feelings; at one moment shredding through exciting death metal riffage, the next settling into a lumbering stretch of palm muted doom instead. These changes ensure the consistency of Usurpress’s sound never becomes stale. Perhaps the most interesting and generally under-utilised method of introducing variety into the music is something this band excels at; frequent tempo and beat changes. In addition, not only is the tempo itself tampered with on occasion, but quite regularly the guitarist or drummer will switch between beat divisions and accents, giving the illusion of speeding up or slowing down.
Despite deviating from the bare roots of death metal, The Regal Tribe still feels like a refreshing return to the essential elements of the genre. Free from unnecessary bells and whistles, Usurpress instead offer a satisfying slab of hearty music and manage to balance that with their love of doom styles and frequent visits from their progressive side. All of this simply makes the experience more enjoyable. Instead of feeling like a death metal album with decorations, or a ‘collage’ of all three genres, on their latest album Usurpress have crafted a sound of their own – one that never feels contrived or desperate, but rather entirely logical.
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Album Rating: 4.0
Stream: https://agoniarecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-regal-tribe
Feedback in much appreciated (:
| | | This review is tingling my pingle
Pos'd :]
I saw this when it was in its pre-order phase and thought it sounded awesome. Will definitely have to check now.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Thanks man (: Definitely check it out man, album rules and it's $3 on bandcamp for the next few days. Let me know what you think if you do give it a listen.
| | | that cover is kinda bad taste imo, like, yea ok we know you're a metal band but pls
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I can kinda understand that, personally I actually really like the art. But if it helps to make you see the art as more than just something tasteless done for shock value consider these excerpts taken from the Bandcamp page:
"During the composing of the new album, the band was plagued by mental disorders/depressions and life threatening illnesses in the memberâs immediate families, most notably vocalist/lyricist Stefan Petterssonâs battle with his bone marrow cancer. Therefore "The Regal Tribe" is a heavier and darker, yet more varied, complex and thoughtful effort than their previous albums. This concept album is a tragic story about life versus death, about vanity and the relentless passing of time and is by far Usurpressâ most ambitious output to date. "
"The album's haunting cover artwork was created by renowned Dutch artist Marald van Haasteren (Bolt Thrower, High on Fire, Baroness, Kylesa) who was given a carte blanche with rgeards to the visual interpretation of the album’s lyrical concept."
| | | i just think hanging corpses is cliche for a death metal release
| | | Really great review, hard pos! This doesn't sound like my thing, I always want to like progressive death metal, but I can't seem to only enjoy ODSM or blackened DM type stuff.
Also, the album cover rules tbh.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Thanks a bunch man! I'd honestly encourage you to give it a try, the progressive elements I mentioned aren't what you might think, it's more stylistic influences than "progressive death metal". It's much closer to traditional 'old-school' dm than it is anything else, the doom and prog parts just work towards the same goal. Also there's no bm influences here so you're good on that front (:
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
"across the dying plains" is really good at a cursory listen, gonna jam this
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Yes! Great review dude, didn't know what to expect based on that album cover, but this is prettttty fantastic. Awesome production, and killer vocals. I needed a good dose of OSDM this month and this should fill the niche.
| | | This sounds amazing, that average score needs to change asap
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Yeah, listening now and it rules. Sweet how track 1 flows into track 2, hope the album keeps up that trend.
Edit: :D
Pos'd
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Glad you guys are digging it (:
Thanks Sabrutin, but damn I thought I got all of those this time for once haha. I'll fix 'em now.
| | | The crustier influences here rule so much face m/
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
This is really sweet, Throwing the Gift Away caught me off guard
| | | great album, great review. fingers crossed you'll be interviewed next
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Thanks man! Nice ratings too you guys.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
yea ok i dug this a lot. like it feels really authentically old school with super thick production and enough odd tricks and variances to not be generic
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Gonna check this out simply because of the album cover, thanks for the review!
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Happy you dig it so much Game (: Hope you like it too Pho3nix.
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