IN BECOMING A GHOST

Up until now, my relationship with The Faceless had been a slowly deteriorating one. When I first heard Planetary Duality and Akeldama back in 2009, I thought it was the heaviest, fastest, and most technical stuff on the planet. The intricate guitar harmonies, the frenzied drumming, and varied vocal work made it clear to me that we were witnessing a fantastic new beacon for technical death metal. Throw in some progressive rock influences and some creepy sci-fi interludes for good measure, and things just got more interesting. But sadly, Autotheism ruined the good will built up by many fans. It wasn't an awful album, but it sounded disjointed and undercooked by the band's standards. And of course, lead guitarist and (I guess) figurehead Michael Keene's ego seemed to be getting in the way of the band's future. So it's pretty safe to say that I was approaching In Becoming a Ghost with much more caution than usual. Luckily, I'm pleased to report that my fears have mostly been erased.

In Becoming a Ghost is largely defined by a more cinematic, progressive identity than its predecessors, and it can be considered the band's furthest removed from their original sound. But, bizarrely enough, this isn't as much of a problem as you'd think. The experimentation is wrapped up in song structures and lyrical themes that are both engaging and tight, and the progressive elements serve more to bolster the atmosphere than be an excuse to noodle around. As if the haunting piano part of the intro title track wasn't cool enough, we get to hear some killer tech-death flute melodies (!) and full-on symphonic passages in its followup 'Digging the Grave.' That's not to say the aggression is absent, though; Abigail Williams vocalist Ken Sorceron is more than enough to fill the shoes of Derek Rydquist with his strong mix of guttural growls and black metal shrieks. The riffs are still quite punishing in parts too, especially in the killer tremolo-picked riff that kicks of 'The Spiralling Void.' But the difference between this album and Autotheism is that it seems to have more purpose to it. I get the sense that the band members genuinely put their all into this one, and that they really wanted to experiment around with what they thought was cool. Oftentimes, the framework surrounding the riffs is just as interesting as the riffs themselves, such as the weird staccato bass stabs that dance around the guitar intro of 'I Am' or the deranged orchestral breaks in 'Shake the Disease.' As for the problems with the album, I only have two major ones. One is, as in Autotheism, that Michael Keene's voice gets way too much time in the spotlight. Remember when his voice would pop up very sparingly in Planetary Duality to add a little extra atmosphere and variety" Well, he sings in just about every track here. And, simply put, his voice is just boring. His inflections make him sound uninterested with the subject matter, and he draws attention away from the far superior performances of Ken Sorceron. Also, while the band's technical skills are still impressive, the riffs aren't the most memorable around. This has been a problem with past Faceless records, but sometimes the band get so caught up in their experimentation and technicality that their riffs don't really stick with you very well. But maybe that's because In Becoming a Ghost will need a bit more time to sink in. Regardless, it's impressive what they accomplished here. It seems as though the band are getting closer to fully realizing their potential as a progressive death metal band; it's just time that they tightened up their songcraft... and perhaps let Michael Keene stick to just his guitar playing and songwriting.

"In Becoming a Ghost" is the fourth full-length studio album by US, California based death metal act The Faceless. The album was released through Sumerian Records in December 2017. It´s the successor to "Autotheism" from August 2012. Only band founder/guitarist/keyboard player/clean- and vocoder vocalist Michael Keene remains from the lineup who recorded the predecessor and by this point it´s 100% clear that The Faceless is Keene´s baby. Further proof of that is that he has also recorded the bass parts on "In Becoming a Ghost" and is responsible for producing, engineering, mixing, and mastering "In Becoming a Ghost" at his own Keene Machine Studios. So although Ken Sorceron (vocals), Justin McKinney (rhythm guitars), and Chason Westmoreland (drums) are credited for performing on "In Becoming a Ghost", I´m not so sure that it´s a permanent band constellation.

While The Faceless first two albums ("Akeldama" from 2006 and "Planetary Duality" from 2008) were both scorching technical and quite brutal death metal albums with a progressive edge, "Autotheism" took the progressive element of the band´s music a bit further and left behind some of the most brutal parts of the band´s music, and that tendency is continued on "In Becoming a Ghost" which is a highly progressive and technical death metal album, featuring more clean vocals than any The Faceless releases before it and the album also features a lot of excursions into progressive metal territories in terms of unconventional song structures and songwriting ideas. This is still to some extent death metal and at times still pretty extreme music, but the extremity of the band´s music is often overshadowed by the adventurous songwriting ideas and melodic and atmospheric approach to their compositions.

"In Becoming a Ghost" is well produced, featuring a powerful, detailed, and clear sound, which suits the material well. So upon conclusion it´s another high quality release from The Faceless. If you enjoyed the more progressive inclined songwriting on "Autotheism" over the technical and brutal death metal of "Akeldama" and "Planetary Duality", then "In Becoming a Ghost" should most certainly be right down your alley. Compared to "Autotheism" I´d even say that The Faceless master this style better on "In Becoming a Ghost", which to my ears is a more coherrent release (including the cover version of "Shake the Disease" by Depeche Mode). The one feature bringing my rating down a bit is the clean vocals. They aren´t out of tune or badly performed but Keene simply doesn´t have a very interesting or distinct sounding voice. It´s like listening to the clean vocals on Enslaved´s releases. They´re decently performed and quite inoffensive, but they don´t really add much to the music. They are just there and it´s hard not to think that the music would have had more impact with a stronger vocalist performing the clean vocal parts. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is still deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).