Author: Sandi Sadar Šoba
Artist: Becoming The Archetype
Label: Solid State Records
Release: 2005
Rating: 3/5
“Terminate Damnation” is technically the debut from Becoming The Archetype, even though the band has already released one album under the name The Remnant. This is an American band that, in a flood of metalcore acts, has managed to develop a clear break from all the “fluff” in the genre, so we can safely say Becoming The Archretype have succeeded in cultivating a completely distinctive style. Something fresh on the horizon. An argument that’s plenty to make them appealing. The guys blend influences from all over the rock spectrum: progressive touches, death metal elements, rock-hard, jagged metalcore, and of course the obligatory flirtation with thrash metal, plus even bits of classical music, where piano or acoustic guitar act as a counterweight to the furious outbursts and the bilious spill of the boiling vocals on the record. So Becoming The Archetype are something like what Opeth are today, but from a metalcore point of view. Or put another way: a musical field where Unearth and Opeth meet? Yep, that’s the initial bearing.
Across its whole running time the album unfolds spontaneously and unpredictably: typical metalcore riffs are suddenly followed by tempo swings that can pour everything into a fractured progressive passage the next moment, and, without a hint of warning, the band softens its otherwise aggressive delivery with the aforementioned melodic detours at a mid-tempo pace, into which the refreshing, natural sound of an acoustic guitar with “baroque” classical elements also creeps. It’s all laced with the famous “blast beats” and the guitars in the production sound wickedly convincing!
“Terminate Damnation” was produced by Tue Madsen, who’s known for his production work on albums by Heaven Shall Burn, The Haunted and Hatesphere. The album is appealing on first listen. Parts of it surprise you, completely steeped in melodies and calmer passages, and you lose the feeling that this is a metalcore band at all. But when you spend more time with it, maybe that constant switching between motifs and tempo changes somehow robs the album of its fluidity and dynamics. The album deals with the notion of fragility and decay by stringing together a large number of those motifs.
It’s a debut that’s as technically impressive as they come, and there’s no shortage of experimental nerve for such a young band. The term metalcore is certainly familiar territory for them. But because they take endless delight in experimenting, the album takes on entirely new dimensions of progressive metal. The rhythm section is devastatingly varied and a real paradise for any fan of intricately built songs resting on many variations of tempo. But it’s exactly this “overcomplicating” that takes away the album’s focus, a clear, recognizable direction, and with it the punch, without which the point of raw metalcore can hardly shine. The band is just starting out, you can feel the incredible enthusiasm and the urge to prove themselves, as Becoming The Archetype want to serve up all their extensive command of their instruments and technical know-how in 54 minutes, which shows in a rookie’s rush as they scatter all sorts of witty motifs that this refined band could cash in on far more effectively. The band has outstanding musical talent and it’s worth keeping an eye on everything they do in the future. Just saying! A field where progressive metal meets metalcore primitiveness. For now the band pays more attention to aesthetics than to the directness of an energetic approach. The cards are open for Becoming The Archetype, and the next album will definitely be a hot upgrade to an otherwise highly enticing debut.
Lineup
Jason Wisdom – bass guitar, vocals
Jon Star – guitar
Sean Cunningham – guitar
Seth Hecox – keyboards, guitar
Brent Duckett – drums
Production
Tue Madsen
Track list
1. March Of The Dead
2. Into Oblivion
3. One Man Parade
4. Elegy
5. Night’s Sorrow
6. Epigone, The
7. Beyond Adaptation
8. No Fall To Far
9. Ex Nihilo
10. Denouement
11. TheTrivial Paroxysm
Album length: 54.33
