I fucking love Arsis. Great guys, great band. That's all there is to it. I'll admit that portions of the advance tracks from their latest masterpiece, "United in Regret" (another winner from the ever-impressive Willowtip), seemed a little more standard to me in terms of melodic death metal influence and riffing stance, but I tried not to concern myself with that as it's basically impossible for me to conceive of being disappointed by these guys at this point. And sure enough, the bulk of this album offers up the same top-notch brand of scorching, energetic, technical, melodic death/thrash that's come to be expected of Arsis... with some improvements, of course. For one thing, the drumming's gotten much livelier this time out, with loads of explosive fills and quick shifts bouncing around within its patterns—thus providing a better balance to match the similarly flashy guitar work; which is jammed with sick picking patterns, super tight interaction between varying guitar lines, and, of course, fuckin' blazing solos worthy of the 80's heyday of the Shrapnel Records roster. To my ears the songwriting is very much in line with the band's past work in terms of sticking to a generally speedy pace with well-placed midpaced breaks strewn about to amplify the overall force of the tracks. And it certainly speaks to the band's talents for composing and arranging that they've taken Depeche Mode's "The Things You Said" and morphed it into a barely recognizable slab of churning power chords and dissonant melodies that's actually one of the standouts of the disc. Impressive.
Like I said, I fuckin' love these dudes. And so I continue to worship at the altar of Arsis. I mean, shit, man, I'll be 30 years old in a few months, so it's rare for me to feel like playing air guitar, you know? But I'll be damned if I wasn't wailing along to this disc all over the place... and even for the rhythm guitars! Yes!
James Malone... Michael Van Dyne... I salute you. Still one of the finest and most talented metal bands out there.
Arsis "United in Regret"
Arsis "Lust Before the Maggots Conquest"
A plague upon thee and those you hold dear should you download this record rather than supporting the band and the label with a purchase. I always encourage shopping directly through Willowtip, as their service is fast and prices cheap. Buy now:
Comments
I…it’s…(speechless). Vocals….insane…Riffs…inventive and catchy as fuck…Andrew, the bringer of all music insanely awesome, I commend thee.
11.6.2006 | By Adrianoso
apart from the fact that their band name sounds the same as “arses”, arsis kills.
11.6.2006 | By Anonymous
this band is damn near perfect i think they are touring with napalm death pretty soon if thats the case ill sure as hell be there.
11.6.2006 | By phil d
holy shizzle, batman. that knocked my socks off. lots of chaos in such a tight space. iam suprised this band wasnt picked up by the big boys…..
11.6.2006 | By Anonymous
Yeah, this is pretty great. I’ve been hittin this site for years, man. Keep it up!
11.6.2006 | By J HASS
I agree with everything that you’ve said here.
As much as I loved A Celebration Of Guilt, this album really makes me get goosebumps. I haven’t had that happen to me in this genre since the first time I heard Heartwork years ago.
11.6.2006 | By eddie
wtf am i the only one who thinks this is a huuge step down
it’s not nearly as catchy, drums are way too low, and way more bland
11.6.2006 | By Anonymous
i dont get it. a celebration of guilt is way better than this
11.7.2006 | By meh
absolutely agreed. fantastic album. i was listening to it for the first time yesterday morning while working out and i found it hard to keep my pace while air guitaring & air drumming the whole time!
11.7.2006 | By Anonymous
Just like every other album this band has ever released, I tried very hard to enjoy it, but I couldn’t. I can’t put my finger on any specific reason, just something about it doesn’t do it for me.
11.7.2006 | By Carlzilla
most peoplep proabably still have opinion that there was no good melodic death metal album since At the Gates: Slaughter of the Soul. Some also put here Carcass: Heartwork…
11.7.2006 | By Anonymous