THE HINDERERS

Death metal I thought was dying. So many silly sub genres coming from it, tech death, deathcore, screamo, scream core, gump core...all that shit. The basics of death metal were fading away. It was always the older bands, like Deicide, Carcass, Death, Napalm Death, Cainnibal Corpse, which made me go "this is death metal" as I listened to their music and embraced their cold embrace. It's very rare when a new death metal band comes out and really intrigues me. This is one of those bands.

I literally had never heard of these guys until this album came along. From reading magazines like Metal Hammer and Total Guitar, I saw that this album was getting alot of positive feedback, which to be honest, in today's metal climate, isnt the easiest thing to do. I saw this album in my local HMV, so I thought, "meh, whats the worst that could happen". And this album is an example of a risk that brings forth only the greatest positives.

I think the reason why I like this band, and love this album so much is because "THEIR IS ACTUAL SONGS ON IT." The one thing that annoys me about modern death metal is that the actual art of songwriting seems to be gone. It justs seems to be a big penis envy competition to see how heavy a band could get, yet most bands lack the actual depth to write songs. Luckily these guys can actually do that.

In their last album I reviewed "The Concealers" (2009), I was pondering why these guys are considered a "prog" death band, and now I can kind of see why, especially with this album. These guys are able to craft quite complicated and intricate songs without them being too lengthy, too disfragmented and to the point. These guys are able to do that, and also they can make each song as unique as possible, which is a very hard thing for bands to do these days.

The sound these guys make is pretty epic. The album is produced incredibly well, in fact, if your looking for an example of a wee produced album, this is it. The album was produced by James Murphy, who you may remember from such bands as DEATH! and OBITUARY! (classic death metal bands), and he even does a guitar solo on the album. The album was also on Roadrunner...and I do admit, they may not handle bands too well, but when it comes to producing an album, they'll make sure it sounds as perfect as it should be.

Musically, it really is a marvel. It takes the death metal sound, adds the proggy edges, adds a heap load of darkness and gloom, and cuts it down to such a easily listenable album (well it's death metal...it's not exactly Simply Red). Their is also alot of experimentation within the album, like industrial influences, electronica and prog influences. Other than that, its an extreme metal fest. The songs themselves are some of the catchiest and most kick ass death metal songs I have heard in a very long time.

The vocals are also the best death metal vocals I have heard in a long time. Why Sean Farber left the band I'll never know, but whatever he;s doing now, and if he's in a band...I want to find out what he's up too. Lyrically the album is really interesting, dealing with existentionalism topics and some really dark and interesting philosphies. Overall, the lyrics add a dark and dank skin over this egg of absolute murky epicness.

1. Subterfuge - Great start to the album. Such an amazing song, with a killer chorus. The wists and turns really add to the atmosphere of the song. 10/10

2. From The Blind - Has quite a Carcass vibe to it. Love the instrumental section in the middle. How Sean dictates his vocals really is an amazing triumph. 10/10

3. Comsuc Forge - Love the use of keyboards in this song. The odd dark melodic chorus is really killer. A dark dank mother of a song. 10/10

4. Sightless - Has such a killer riff in the song. The chorus is pretty cool too. The vocals as usual are amazing. Their is also a pretty cool Alien like music video to this song. 10/10

5. Under A Somber Sign - One of the most melodic songs on the album. Still incredibly dark and breathtaking. 10/10

6. Ovum - My favourite song on the album. Jesus I love this song so much. The vocals give me chills every time I hear it. Such an amazing chorus. If you haven't heard this song, please listen to it, it really is an underlooked death metal classic. 10/10

7. Festival Mass Soulform - Great chorus. Such a dark epic song. Love the lyrics too. 10/10

8. Above Lucium - Some incredibly heavy riffs in this song. A very heavy mother of a song. Great arrangement. This also has one of the best chorus' on the album. 10/10

9. Who Will Take The Blame? - Love the use of electronics and keyboards on this song. Grea diverse vocals. Their is also a pretty cool guitar solo from James Murphy (DEATH METALLLLL) - 10/10

10. War Born (Tri-adverserenade) - Such a fast, brutal and quick song. It's gone in the blink of an eye, and you really will end up missing it. 9/10

11. Dead On The Dance Floor - I love how this song, which you may think is a dance song, turns into an epic death metal song. The 2 styles are mixed incredibly well and don't really feel forced. The lyrics are funny too. Great chorus as well. 10/10

12. Blessed Through Misery - Love the raspy vocals. A very doomy and gloomy song. 7/10

13. The Hinderers - Love the intro to this song. Such an epic way to end the album. Great use of atmosphere and the ending with the timpani and keys really adds to the epic feel of the song. 9/10

CONCLUSION: This album reminds me of another album released around the same time this album was release, which is Scar Symmetry's Pitch Black Progress. It came from nowhere, I got it as a dare, and now the album has become one of my all time favourites. This is probabbly one of the best death metal albums released in a long time and really is one of the best metal albums to really blow me away and stay in my memory for such a long time. I really suggest you listen to this album, because it really is bringing back great death metal. I LOVE THIS ALBUM.

9.2/10