RECONTINUE

"Recontinue" is the fifth full-length studio album by Australian technical/progressive metal act Alarum. The album was independently released in November 2024. It´s the successor to "Circle's End" from 2020 and the trio lineup who recorded "Circle's End" have now been joined by drummer Jared Roberts, making Alarum a quartet on "Recontinue". Session guitarist Ryan Williams (Aeon of Horus) performs leads on the songs "Introspective", "Imperative", and "Zero Nine Thirty".

Opening with a melodic jazz/fusion influenced progressive metal instrumental in "Introspective" and then segueing into a technical/progressive death/thrash metal track like "Imperative"...yup it´s Alarum alright. Powerful, melodic, and intriguing technical/progressive metal with death/thrash metal brutality. Alarum still excel in the dynamics of shifting between melodic jazz/fusion influenced progressive sections and more staight forward technical death/thrash metal. It´s one of the great strengths of Alarum how well they make the different elements of their sound naturally flow together. You don´t question the relevance of a an atmospheric jazzy fusion part in the middle of a death/thrash metal dominated song (or visa versa). Alarum combine the two styles in a seamless manner.

If I have to compare "Recontinue" to "Circle's End" I´d say that the death/thrash metal parts of the band´s music have become slightly more punchy and straight forward, but then again Alarum have lost none of their progressive mindset, so in many ways "Recontinue" is just the natural continuation of the music style found on "Circle's End". The quality of the songwriting, the performances, and the sound production values are just as high as on the preceding album, so upon conclusion "Recontinue" is yet another high quality release from Alarum and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).