THE FACELESS

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).

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.

Above anything else, The Faceless' Autotheism is a problematic album. I did enjoy Planetary Duality quite a bit, and there are plenty of moments on Autotheism that recall The Faceless' past achievements. The central style finds itself at a crossroads between modern tech death and Dream Theater-variety progressive metal; the mention of that combination alone should spark some doubts, but The Faceless can, and often do make it work in their favour. Having just recently seen them headline the 2014 Summer Slaughter tour with the likes of Archspire, Rings of Saturn etc., there's no doubt The Faceless can bring it to the table in terms of sheer technical instrumentation. The guitars entwine excellently with Lyle Cooper's drumwork, and the guitars navigate the album's more challenging parts with style. That's not what's wrong with Autotheism.

I usually love it when bands put a progressive, or unexpected swing on a genre like tech death- most of the time it gives the music a tinge of spontaneity that may have otherwise been lost in the sea of sweeps and robotic notation. The Faceless have certainly made themselves out to be a band who takes the road less travelled in terms of technical death metal. Allusions to Dream Theater, multi-part epics and clean vocals are all well-off the beaten path for the style. It should by all means work, but by the end of Autotheism I'm left thinking like the album might have been best contained within the tech death sphere. The Faceless remain good at what they know, but whenever there's a detour, the vision feels undercooked.

There's no better example of this than the multi-part suite and title piece. In keeping with the other less-successful prog epics I've heard, "Autotheism" offers up some interesting ideas, but ultimately falls apart under its own weight. There is ambition but no coherence, nothing to congeal the epic together as a definitive musical statement. If a band is intent on devoting a third of their album to a composition, I would hope I would leave it with a strong impression of the band's sound. After a pseudo-orchestral overture, The Faceless proceed to follow the footsteps of metal genius Devin Townsend's style for several minutes (clean vocals and all) before finally diving into the prog death they're most comfortable with. As much as I love Devin Townsend, any imitators (of which there are several) I've heard fall far short of what they no doubt set out to accomplish. Devin's style was exciting because it was completely his. In the case of Autotheism, The Faceless seem to cling to their interpretation of his style, not least obvious of all being Michael Keene's halfhearted clean vocals, which seem kept afloat only through a mountain of harmonizing and post-prod effects. By the suite's second movement, things begin to pick up and we hear some good riffs, but it's not long before the suite reverts back to the same plodding pace and weak prog cliches.

Particularly in the third movement "Deconsecrate", it becomes obvious that The Faceless lack the personality and sincerity to pull off a lot of these progressive sections. Hearing the band perform their Townsend facsimile felt disingenuous enough, but the weirdest moments- most notably being a carnivalesque section wherein Keene croons "God is dead"- feel forced and joyless, as if The Faceless suddenly became aware they were taking themselves too seriously, but couldn't get themselves out of a rut in time before the epic finished. On the topic of serious things, it doesn't seem like The Faceless think atheism is any joke. They remind us of this stance in virtually every song and- all beliefs aside- their way of handling the subject in their music is possibly the most awful thing about the album. Whenever they're not depending on worn expressions and cliches in their lyrics, they're preaching some holier-than-thou New Atheist sanctimony that makes Christian rock look tolerable by comparison. I'm all onboard with iconoclasm and supposed free-thinking, but The Faceless' ideology seems to be directly in line with the "In this moment, I am euphoric" brand of online atheist crusaders who, I can only imagine, polish their Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens shrines in between bouts of cosplay internet porn. My own views on religion (or, more specifically, the hypocriticism of New Atheism) certainly paint this element of The Faceless in a more negative light than it may be for others, but take a track like "Hail Science" (kill me now), an interlude not unlike Radiohead's "Fitter Happier", only with an extra helping of cringeworthy anti- religious sentiment. From this and other sets of lyrics, I get the impression that The Faceless (like many of the fedora-bound internet gremlins you'll find lurking on the forums) place the blame of all human ills and indecency on religion and belief in a God that doesn't exist. If The Faceless agree with me that God is most likely a fabrication, then they should also acknowledge that it must be somewhere in human nature itself for people to do these [&*!#]ty, ignorant things to one another. If God is truly dead, then we have only ourselves to blame.

At the album's best, Autotheism flirts with better-than-average tech death riffery and suggests some great potential in the prog metal sector as well. Each time I've finished listening through the album however, I can think of more problems I have with the album than things I enjoyed. If I may be diplomatic here, it's clear that The Faceless took a big risk in putting so much of the album aside to jump outside their shell and explore musically. That achievement feels dull in context when it ultimately just appears like they've jumped inside another shell, of a more uncompromising and visionary artist than they themselves are. The songwriting is generally bland and forgettable, and the concept is idiotic. I never thought I'd say this, but give me straight up tech death over this any day.

...the music on "Autotheism" continues the technical death metal sound of it´s predecessor to a degree, but I´d say the technical part of the band´s sound is now playing second violin to the progressive part of their sound. In other words this is more a progressive death metal release, which is technically well played, than it is a technical death metal release with progressive leanings like the case was with "Planetary Duality (2008)". The change in style between the two albums is actually so radical that at times I´m in doubt if it´s the same band playing. Influences from artists like Devin Townsend and especially Opeth are strong on the album and there are extensive use of clean vocals (in addition to growling vocals) on the album. A feauture that was only occasionally used on the predecessor.

The album features adventurous song structures, tempo-and time signature changes and a generally progressive mindset to creating music. Best examplified in the opening 17:43 minutes long "Autotheist Movement" (check out the carnival music in "Autotheist Movement III: Deconsecrate" or the dynamic semi-jazzy soloing which also occur in the suite), which might be sub-divided into three tracks but functions as one long track. The rest of the material isn´t as progressive in nature, but there is still a focus on creative ideas before technical playing.

We´re talking high level musicianship all around and a powerful sound production that suits the music well, which of course adds further to how professional sounding and enjoyable the album is as a whole.

If I take on the objective glasses "Autotheism" is a damn fine progressive/technical death metal album strongly influenced by Opeth and at times Devin Townsend. A high quality release and recommendable to fans of the style.

On a personal level I´m slightly disappointed that they´ve changed their style so much since "Planetary Duality (2008)" (which I still think is one of the strongest tech death metal albums, released after 2000), that I have a hard time recognising "Autotheism" as a The Faceless release. There was a big difference in sound and style between the debut and "Planetary Duality (2008)" but this time I think they´ve worn their influences a bit too much on their sleeve and in the process have forgotten to focus on who they are as a band and what made them distinct and unique sounding. Musical development is fine, but not necessarily if you sacrifice identity in the process.

Still I´ll go with the objective opinion about "Autotheism", when I rate it, because you can´t take away from the album that it´s extremely well played, well produced and very creatively put together, and I know I would have rated it high, if it was the debut album by a new artist. So a 4 star (80%) rating is still deserved despite my reservations.

These guys are certainly more than capable at their instruments, and they sure in hell want you to know it. Even the bass player gets a quick little moment to shine at the beginning of one of the tunes. There's also some occasional diversions and additions to spice up the proceedings with a little bit of variety to avoid ennui from a constant non-stop barrage of riffs, sweeps and arpeggios. You have some keyboard moments, including a short instrumental that's quite atmospheric, some "clean" singing tossed about here and there along with a vocoder robot voice that once in a while pays a visit. There's also a couple of jazzy moments, maybe as a bone to throw at fans of Cynic and a few other extreme progressive metal bands. With the sci-fi theme, The Faceless here do seem to be seriously vying for the progressive stratosphere, at least within the confines of the extreme metal genre. My issue, though, is that nothing sticks at all, except for a few random moments here and there. It's like listening to guys practicing their scales together as fast as possible before launching into a bunch of riffs in which only a few have lasting power. The band does bounce around with genre expectations, including a small bit that sounds more like polished black metal than death metal, but as a whole I found myself enjoying parts of songs that work or sound cool as opposed to any tune for the full duration.

Apparently there are some 'deathcore' elements to this group's work, so take that for what it's worth, since it sounds like technical death metal with some embellishments and nothing more to me. It's certainly busy, and thankfully short at under 35 minutes with some monstrous skill involved. It's quite cleanly though unremarkably produced and thus with little atmosphere the songs rely on their craftsmanship and technicality. The Faceless have the technicality down pat for sure, so hopefully in the future they can balance their work by focusing more on creating songs that resonate instead of a bunch of ideas strung together. I will give it credit for being entertaining at times and decent enough if I'm in the mood for this sort of thing.

The Faceless plays a brand of technical death metal that reaches the complexity of giants in the genre such as Cynic and Atheist while adding a few elements of deathcore and metalcore. The vocals are very brutal as one would expect and the music is no less brutal. But there are melodic elements that appear in glimpses every now and then. Derek Rydquist's vocals are very much in the realm of metalcore and death growls, but guitarist Michael Keene adds some variety with a few clean vocals and the use of a vocoder. The music itself however is absolutely flooring. These guys have some serious chops, and hearing the brief bass riff and arpeggio guitars in the intro of The Ancient Covenant really helped seal the deal for me. Each song feels like it's composed of hundreds of riffs, and each one is almost as mind-blowing as the ones that come after it.

I'd love to give this release 5 stars, but it has yet to stand the test of time for me. So I'll give it 4 for now, but I am very likely to move this up to 5 eventually. Fans of technical or death metal owe it to themselves to check this out.

The music style featured on the album is technical death metal. It´s both pretty brutal and melodic at the same time. The guitar riffs are sharp and fast with lots of precise and technically complex drumming to go along. The vocals are mostly deep brutal growls (a few higher pitched screams too) but there are occasional clean/vocoder vocals featured too which is great for the variation of the album. One of my favorite features on the album are the many melodic guitar solos though. Very skillfully executed and an oasis of beauty in the midst of the brutal fast-paced and busy death metal. The vocoder parts provide the music with some futuristic/sci-fi sounding atmospheric moments which are another part of the music providing it with variation.

The album opens with the short and brutal "Prison Born" and quickly continues with the more progressive "The Ancient Covenant". That song is simply amazing technical death metal. Powerful and fast with some great guitar motifs. "Shape Shifters" is a short instrumental breather before "Coldy Calculated Design" begins and we´re once again treated with a fast-paced and technical death metal track. "Xeno Christ" is a bit different and heavier but still with faster parts. Great varied song that one. "Sons of Belial" is the song with most obvious use of clean vocals even though those vocals actually only occur twice in the song and only for a few seconds at a time. I didn´t care much for the clean vocals the first many times I listened to the album but I´ve come to appreciate them a little more with repeated listens of the album.

"Legion of the Serpent" is next and it´s the most melodic song on the album, featuring some interesting melodic breaks. It´s a great song and very important for the diversity of the album (the fast-paced neo-classical parts remind me of The Black Dahlia Murder). "Planetary Duality I : Hideous Revelation" is an intro to "Planetary Duality II : A Prophecies Fruition". The short intro track has some sci-fi samples which really creates the right atmopshere before the going into "Planetary Duality II : A Prophecies Fruition" which is another excellent technical death metal track.

The musicianship is outstanding on all posts. This is very complex and demanding music and The Faceless are a very tight playing unit. Add to that a clear, powerful, and detailed sound production and you have a high quality release on your hands. It´s like listening to the US hybrid version of Obscura and Necrophagist, although The Faceless don´t sound like a close. But there are a lot of similarities.

So upon conclusion The Faceless hit something special on "Planetary Duality". They hinted on greatness on "Akeldama", but they´ve developed their style a lot since the debut album, and by incorporating a lot of different influences and musical elements and songwriting ideas to their compositions (technical death metal, brutal death metal, progressive metal, even black metal), "Planetary Duality" is a both varied and intriguing technical death metal release from start to finish. They keep the listener on his/her toes throughout the album but still maintain a sort of accessibility that you don´t get often when listening to highly technical death metal releases. A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

I first found this band while listening to pandora.com the radio station, and I made a station called Necrophagist radio the band, and it played similar artists to Necrophagist and they Played Some Meshuggah and The Faceless and others and when I heard the Faceless I instantly bookmarked the song because it was so rhythmic and interesting. There songs still play on my radio stations from Pandora and I really like the musicians. The drumming is insanely fast and the guitar is blistering, and they have some really great ideas and you can tell they've been working really hard. Check EM OUT!!!!!!!!!!

However, one will get to know the sounds of certain tracks. If a track could be described as memorable on this album it would probably be The Ancient Covenant with a killer bass intro and quick arpeggios sewn through it.

Of course, there's Shape Shifters which is for the most part a short, eerie instrumental with strange synth/guitar. However, it doesn't really fit with rest of the album in terms of composition.

There's much more to Planetary Duality then just technical death metal though. Vocoder vocals are common, but the robotic voices don't add at all to the accessibilty of the music. If anything, it just makes it more unusual. There are a few instances of actual singing in the album, but it sounds rather out of place. Imagine James Labrie in Nile for example, and that should give the idea. Also one can find a few interesting piano lines.

All in all, it's a great album if you want to go crazy with your metal head friends. But even for the most extreme prog metal fans this will be difficult to digest, there's not much to get one's foot in the door. And forget the slightest notion of any classic prog fan trying to enjoy this. I feel a three out of five star rating is the best rating for it.

Stylistically the material on the 8 track, 33:18 minutes long album is technical/progressive death metal with the occasional nod towards deathcore and more than a few parts which can be labelled melodeath. When the latter parts occur I´m reminded of an artist like The Black Dahlia Murder, but that is only a part of the band´s sound, and the music on "Akeldama" is generally a much more varied size.

The album opens with "An Autopsy", and it´s one of those tracks that´ll blow most listeners away. Jaw-dropping techncial playing, compositional diversity, and just loads of power and aggression. Pretty soon The Faceless introduce a little clean singing, deathcore breakdowns, and progressive structures and adventurous ideas, which ultimately make "Akeldama" a little more than your standard technical/progressive death metal release. The vocals vary between deep growling and higher pitched screaming (and as mentioned above the occasional clean vocal part).

"Akeldama" features a clear, powerful, and detailed sound production, which suits the material perfectly. So upon conclusion "Akeldama" is a high quality debut album by The Faceless. Some of the excursions into progressive territories make the overall flow of the album slightly inconsistent, but overall it´s a pretty impressive first release by the band and a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.