The Embraced's debut album from back in '98 seems to have been completely missed or ignored by everyone, everywhere and the only reason I can think of is that their record label, Aftermath, sucks but since I know nothing of record labels besides Earache, Ipecac, Metal Blade and Nuclear Blast, I have no real idea.
This album melds melodic death and melodic black metal and often has a sound of metalcore to it, but not in a bad way. It is really the guitars that switch back and forth but I'd say it is usually closer to melodic black metal because of the tremelo picked guitars. The instrumentatal technique is not mindbnlowing but there are no errors either. It is steady and constant with a few flairs here and there. What matters is that it is all solid as a rock. The arrangements and songwriting are where this band shines.
The title track is not a song as much as a decent soundscape. Then you are launched into a very melodic death sounding song. The vocalsit is really quite good at what he does but seems to have only one real mode. A bit more dynamic in his voice would help. They have no problem finding dynamic in the guitar parts though. A beautiful super melodic section interupts the song. It would almost fit in a metalcore song.
And the next song does not disappoint. The assault breaks in this song to give the listener a woman's voice before we are tossed back into the onslaught. There are some very metalcore spots in this song with the pinch harmonc/semi-breakdown bits and all. A strange key change almost sort of appears near the end of the song and is quite interesting.
By Remains of Life, track 4 the listener may begin to wonder something, "does this band change tempo?" and to be honest, I am not sure. all 3 real songs to this point have been very similar in tempo. This song is where the vocals also begin to eat at you. The listener craves another voice, or approach to the scream/growl. Nevertheless, this is a solid song. The acoustic guitar that appears in the center of the metal is a strange contrast but also kind of cool and unusual. Harmonized guitars give way to the first real solo of the album and it is quite good.
Ahhhhh... acoustic guitars. Peaceful and melodic, Split is a relief sort-of. We are given the metal but the transition into it is weak. Very weak. Unfortunate because the separate pieces of the song are both great. Near the midpoint of the song, we forget the crappiness of the transition and are presented with a very cool song with a very audible bass part. This song is not a highlight, the fade outs and the repetition are a shame, especially considering the greatness of this song in small doses. The soundscape at the end is cool as is the transition into track 6, The Last Embrace. This also begins with an acoustic guitar part that is very nice to listen to. It continues for all 5:38 minutes of the song and it is not a bad thing. Excellent instrumental solo guitar song.
And track 7, The Demon Storm is probably the best song here. It is superb. The tempo has changed, the vocals fit this song better than any other and the overall sound is very nice. There are many little tangents from the main theme which keep it interesting and it seems to gallop the listener along. It also has some cool key weirdness that just pushes this song over the top. This song gets a 5/5 no question. The acoustic break is beautiful and not rushed along like some of the others by the drums. An what is this?!?! a vocal change. He may only be whispering but it is perfect. Fits beautifully. And then, true death growls! This song wins the album. Without this song, it is a 3.5/5 but this song pushes it to that 4/5.
How can you follow up Demon Storm? With As Darkness Falls is how. ANother very good song. It is a dark sounding song to fit nicely with the title. This song has a super melodic solo that acts like it can';t decide if it wants to be a true solo or not. It is fine because it sounds right the way it is.
The end is near. Autumn Leaves begins in a fairly predictable manner. Acoustic guitar and then solo chorus-y guitar joined by slow drums and rumbling bass. A change from the jump to heavy at the beginning of most of these songs. It builds and builds and then falls into itself pushing us along. It has a super strong beat that has you pulsating, just shy of a headbang. And the female vocals are back. This song is almost doom except for the speed it seems. Then it builds firther into the faster paced strange key business with the real vocals. Again, on this track the singer gives us true death growls. A strange sort of bass solo is so rumbly you can hardly decipher the notes but it works well. The sheer number of parts written for this song is impressive. Most bands could have made 6 songs out of this one. Granted it is about 4 times longer than most songs but the way it all fits together is also impressive. An acoustic break with more female vocals gives them a chance to build again into a super melodic harmonized section that builds and builds until the song ends. The ending is very strange, it simply seems to die, like the sound an animal would make were it to sort of gargle out of exsistence. It works but is not what I really wanted or expected.
This is a well done album despire some shortcomings. The 3 songs really are the height which should keep you listening in order to get there.
Go listen.
