Allegaeon - Elements Of The Infinite review
| Band: | Allegaeon |
| Album: | Elements Of The Infinite |
| Style: | Melodic death metal, Technical death metal |
| Release date: | June 2014 |
01. Threshold Of Perception
02. Tyrants Of The Terrestrial Exodus
03. Dyson Sphere
04. The Phylogenesis Stretch
05. 1.618
06. Gravimetric Time Dilation
07. Our Cosmic Casket
08. Biomech II
09. Through Ages Of Ice - Otzi's Curse
10. Genocide For Praise - Vals For The Vitruvian Man
My first impressions of Allegaeon's new album, Elements Of The Infinite, were definitely strange. The album opens up an acoustic part, not all that strange in itself, but then morphs into this grandiose orchestral intro that sounds like the music to a God of War game with electric guitar arpeggios over it. Yikes...
There's one good thing an intro like that can do though - it can really create a nice build up to whatever is following. After that intro I was fully expecting Allegaeon's new album to explode in my face the way a Fleshgod Apocalypse album might after such an intro. Contrary to my expectations, it was more of a groove-oriented type of technical metal. The first couple of tracks just kind of plodded along. Everything about them was tight and well executed but they really didn't grab me.
Something else that should be noted, which is apparent right away listening to Elements Of The Infinite, is the musicians are really good. Not just good actually, crazy good. The problem is, while there is jaw-dropping talent on display, there isn't jaw-dropping songwriting on display. So, while sweep picked patterns and complex riffs are flying overhead, they can't exactly lift the songs out of the rut they sometimes get into on their own.
No piece of modern melodic technical metal is complete without a song about vacuum cleaners, and "Dyson Sphere" was where I thought this album turned it around a bit. The sense of melody mixed with sheer technical skill seemed to gel on this track and Allegaeon made it clear that when they were firing on all cylinders, they were quite a pleasure to listen to. The problem I have with this album is that they don't always step the songwriting up to such a high level, and the other elements aren't enough to keep it that interesting throughout. It has a very sterile dime-a-dozen production and the general sound of it isn't all that fresh or unique, so it was really up to the songwriting to carry it. At times it carried it well, but at others didn't.
Allegaeon's latest work is a very polished one. The skill of the musicians is very impressive, and the melodic flavor to some of the songs is, at times, among the tastiest you can find. The album features an excellent acoustic outro as well, which ties it all together nicely. This album should appeal to any fans of modern-sounding technical death metal or melodic death metal, but at times the songs can flatline and get a bit boring, despite everything that is going on in them.
Comments
Comments: 15
Visited by: 336 users
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| JayMo4 Posts: 301 From: USA  |
On one hand, I do believe this is Allegaeon's best so far. On the other hand, I'd have to agree that - for the time being - the songwriting isn't up to the technicality. Granted, this isn't unusual when it comes to the genre. I do think that when they hit on something it works very, very well. There are some true moments of brilliance here, but there are also places where everything just sort of blends together. I'm probably coming off too negative, which isn't my intention. If you're into tech/prog/death (whatever you wanna call it) like I am, this is definitely worth picking up. If you liked Allegaeon's previous work, you'll probably like this even better. I did.
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| Mattybu Posts: 2589 From: Canada  |
Written by JayMo4 on 09.07.2014 at 21:43 Those are basically my sentiments on the album, and while there were some shining moments I think there was a little too much blendy time for this to get a real serious amount of play time by me, but I can see others enjoying it more than I did.
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| pisymbol Posts: 193 From: USA  |
One of the worst produced albums of the year. Hands down. Musically, it's very strong, there is no doubt about that. I honestly think some folks are trivializing how hard it is to be technical but still exude an extremely musical foundation.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Posts: 40071 From: The Netherlands  |
Written by pisymbol on 10.07.2014 at 03:53 Then you certainly haven't heard the latest Judas Priest album 
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Mattybu Posts: 2589 From: Canada |
He only said one of, they can both be among the worst produced albums.  I totally agree this belongs in that category, it just has no bite to it at all. Written by pisymbol on 10.07.2014 at 03:53 Whether it's easy or hard, I honestly think the technicality of this album didn't really add much to it as far as how enjoyable a listen it was. As a guitarist myself I listen to it and think it's the kind of thing that I definitely can't play but honestly wouldn't really want to.
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| pisymbol Posts: 193 From: USA |
Written by Mattybu on 10.07.2014 at 04:13 Let's agree to disagree. This album has A LOT going for it. I actually think the comments made in both the review and in this thread are being borderline cynical. These guys have basically demonstrated Origin virtuosity but have the musical chops to actually carry a tune. My only complaint is from a production standpoint, this album is atrocious - almost as bad as the Fleshgod record.
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| Mattybu Posts: 2589 From: Canada |
Written by pisymbol on 10.07.2014 at 05:11 Virtuosity and pure talent doesn't dictate quality. We have Brain Drill to be sure of that. On this album, the talent is there and that's all well and good, but some more attention to the songwriting could really elevate the experience as a whole. You can call that a cynical view if you want, but in the current metal landscape where there is a wealth of bands with extremely talented musicians just being able to lay waste to scales and arpeggios and go crazy sweeping isn't such a novel thing anymore. I will say one thing I didn't mention in the review, the actual guitar solos were often really tasteful and well done. And at times the songwriting was there. So, yes this album does have things going for it, but it wasn't entirely consistent.
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| BrownLightning Posts: 2 From: USA  |
Even though I take this to be Allegaeon's most mature album, it didn't grab me the way Fragments of Form and Function did. Nonetheless, Genocide for Praise has to be my favorite song by them. I wasn't disappointed or let down by this album, but I expected something over the top on all fronts. That it is not, but it is still a great album and worth a listen.
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| K✞ulu Seeker of Truth Posts: 2570 From: Czech Republic  |
Agree about everything. Not good in any respect.
---- Savor what you feel and what you see Things that may not seem important now But may be tomorrow R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner Satan was a Backstreet Boy
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| tea[m]ster Au Pays Natal Posts: 5245 From: USA  |
"No piece of modern melodic technical metal is complete without a song about vacuum cleaners, and "Dyson Sphere" LMFAO. You sir just won the internet for the day. Well written, but I won't be checking out this, not really my thing.
---- rekt
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| Mattybu Posts: 2589 From: Canada |
Written by BrownLightning on 10.07.2014 at 10:00 I think that is my favourite song on here too. And since they are a new band for me I can't say I had any expectations that weren't fulfilled, but at the same time there's not a lot in particular that draws me back to the album to keep listening. Written by tea[m]ster on 10.07.2014 at 15:54  Judging from your tastes it doesn't seem really up your alley, but thanks for reading and the kind words.
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| Sword_Chant Posts: 714 From: UK |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 10.07.2014 at 04:02 +1 this!
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| Ag Fox Angel No More Posts: 4774 From: Hong Kong  |
I agree with your assessment. I only remember one song from the album after a few listens, which is "1.618". The song writing could definitely be better
---- loves 小巫
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| pisymbol Posts: 193 From: USA |
Written by Sword_Chant on 12.07.2014 at 18:46 Heard both. No contest. The Allegaeon record is ridiculously bad, the amount of compression on this record is stupid.
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