III

"III" is the third full-length studio album by UK symphonic extreme metal act Xerath. The album was released through Candlelight Records in September 2014. It´s the successor to "II" from 2011 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as guitarist Owain Williams has been replaced by Conor McGouran.

Stylistically "III" s a continuation of the Strapping Young Lad/Devin Townsend meets Gojira meets Soilwork meets symphonic/Epic movie score music of the preceding Xerath releases. It´s busy and multi-layered music featuring hard edged sharp and heavy grooven laden riffs and rhythms, layers of keyboards, and both screaming, growling, and clean male vocals. The material is well composed, the album is very well produced, and the performances are strong too.

The busy soundscape and almost cinematic quality of the symphonic keyboards (which sometimes remind me of the way Symphony X incorporate classical orchestration to some of their most epic tracks) make "III" a bit of an exhausting listen taking into consideration that the album features no less than 14 tracks and a total playing time of 68:21 minutes. The exhaustion comes from being constantly pummeled by this massive multi-layered soundscape throughout an almost 70 minutes long playing time, and maybe a bit more restraint from Xerath wouldn´t have hurt.

When that is said "III" is still a high quality progressive/groove metal release and fans of any of the above mentioned artists are recommended to give it a listen. Xerath aren´t the most original act in this style, but the quality of their output is arguably of a high class. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).