Across The Sun - Pestilence & Rapture - review
Across The Sun - Pestilence & Rapture - review
Tracklist
01. May Silence Keep You02. The Ardent Optimist
03. Angelic Deception
04. Farewell The Favored
05. The Illusionist
06. Pestilence And Rapture
A review by
Thryce January 20, 2010
Recorded: Interlace Audio Studio, USA 2009
Label: Authentik Ink.
Total Running Time: 27:09
Remember the days when bands like Winds Of Plague were still called Bleak December, and when bands like Killswitch Engage didn't have any influential role on the scene yet? Well, I got news for you; we're not at the beginning of the 2000's anymore and by now this kind of stale melodic metalcore has been done countless times already. Apparently some bands didn't get the memo. Consequently Pestilence & Rapture seems like a lackluster EP with B sides and recycled material from named bands. Especially on the clean vocal parts Across The Sun are as close as you can get to sounding like Killswitch Engage without actually being Killswitch Engage.
Is there a Killswitch Engage fan in the audience?
A blind eye is turned to the lack of originality. Still the band keeps having a hard time convincing me. The Across The Sun sound is drenched in melodic arrangements and synths, coming close to that feared hyper-melodic, modern metal border. It really gets more syrupy than I'd expected. Frankly this is the kind of emphasis on metal and melody I can't get my head around. Instead, the music mostly threatens to short circuit my brain - listening to pinball game sounds all day long would just be as headsplitting.
Is there a doctor in the audience?
Due to the high degree of melody, accessibility and predictability and the scarcity of freshness, the "new" factor is worn off pretty quickly. In like manner Across The Sun's spark got extinguished before any real damage was done. Pestilence & Rapture seems tasty for a while but fails at keeping the listener captivated for the remainder of the ride. And so the big steaming pile of generic metal-like acts just got a little bit bigger.
Is there still anyone in the audience?
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Had this been the first release of a new metalcore act in 1999, this EP would be considered one of the defining short-lengths of the genre. Sadly, it's now 2010; and as you pointed out, the degree of predictability and commercial modernization of an already lacking sound found on this EP just make for a headache of a listen. That being said, I'd recommend this to anyone who is still in love with melodic metalcore. It's like recommending a modern Dark Tranquillity album: sure it's going to sound the same as their other newer releases, but if you're a fan of that era, you'll dig it.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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