EVENTUALITY...

"Eventuality..." is the 2nd full-length studio album by Australian technical/progressive thrash metal act Alarum. The album was released through Willowtip Records in September 2004. However there also exists a version of the album released through Earache Records with a different cover artwork.

Stylistically the music on "Eventuality..." pretty much continues the technical thrash metal style off Alarum´s debut full-length studio album "Fluid Motion (1999)", but adds a lot of progressive ideas and jazzy elements to that sound. The band have actually developed their style quite a bit even though their core style remains the same. They´ve also improved a lot as musicians since the debut album and there are generally some very impressive playing featured on "Eventuality...". Semi-jazzy guitar solos, fusion influenced drumming, and a busy fusion influenced bassist are some of the instrumental elements on the album. On top of that Mark Palfreyman delivers a relatively convincing vocals delivery with both raw and clean vocal parts. The latter vocal style sometimes reminds me of the vocal style and melodies of Helmet.

The sound production is relatively well sounding, but it´s got a synthetic sound to it that is probably an aquired taste. It´s also a bit unconventional as it features a sort of laid back sound, which is not something you´ll regularly hear on albums in this style. It´s obvious the band favour atmosphere over power. It´s not a powerless sounding album by any means though, it´s just quite different sounding.

Upon conclusion "Eventuality..." is a major step up from "Fluid Motion (1999)", which was an album that showed promise, but overall wasn´t really that great. "Eventuality..." is a much stronger release and even though there are some pretty clear references in the music to artists like Pestilence and Sadist, the album actually comes off as quite innovative and it´s a recommended listen to fans of technical progressive thrash/death metal. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)