Misery Signals "Of Malice and the Magnum Heart" CD
[Ferret]
Holy shit... I was recommended to check out this band a few weeks ago so I downloaded an advance track from the label's website and my reaction was basically, "Ehhh... better than average, but I'm not blown away." Well, scratch that. Because this is a record that needs to be absorbed in full to make its true impression. The group contains former members of 7 Angels 7 Plagues and Hamartia, and theoretically is similar in style to those acts: Technical, melodic metalcore with an emphasis on metal. However, this is far superior to those bands (and most others in this genre) across the board: Better writing, tighter performances, a stronger recording, etc. "A Victim, A Target" opens the record with forceful power chord rhythms layered against orchestral keyboards and bright acoustic guitars with varying levels of screaming vocals... two minutes of sheer power - the perfect opener that hooks your attention right in from the start. From that point on it's a wash of dizzying changes, tight dissonant chords and thrash metal picking patterns, fluid note-based runs, chunky chord progressions, thick melodic passages and emphatic riffing along the lines of the almighty Shai Hulud/Strongarm, and then some. On occasion there are brief emo laden clean parts, but rarely... for the most part it's pretty unrelenting in its heaviness, and I swear that it takes almost every staple of the genre and turns it into something good. They manage to cram a shitload of riffs into the songs without lacking focus, the vocals shift between spoken passages and screams with lots of layering that actually adds energy and emphasis to the compositions, there are no irritating or out of place riffs, etc. "Worlds & Dreamers" is a strange little instrumental using only clean guitars and thundering percussion with a few choral vocal textures mixed in quietly as mere texture, I'm not even sure what I would describe this as... in some small way it has a progressive tinge, but it's very unusual. "On Account of an Absence" is a relatively brief three minutes that never lets up, tossing around shitloads of energetic speed and flawless transitions between stuttered rhythms and huge melodic layers of different guitar parts working together. And the final track, "Difference of Vengeance and Wrongs", opens with more gorgeous clean guitars and the only singing vocals present on the disc, coming off more like some sort of trippy rock band until the distortion kicks in. Some of the singing is a little high, but as a whole this song is the most cohesive and relatively stripped down of the record, ending the closing set of three strongest tracks herein. The disc was produced by Devin Townsend and is possibly his best work to date. Aside from the fact that the vocals are just a little too far in front of the music, everything sounds fucking awesome. The drums overcome their rigidity by possessing density and sticking behind the guitars in the mix, the bass is audible, the guitar tones are all fucking insane, etc. Just check out the lush clean break of "In Summary of What I Am"! It doesn't get much more beautiful than that shit. I've never heard such an impeccably recorded moment on a release from this genre in my life! The layout looks slick as hell, with some illustrations by Travis Smith, tasteful band photos, compactly arranged typefaces, etc. lyrically things are pretty bleak, but generally handled in a way that I can certainly appreciate: "Growing to hate decisive lows, All I can do is watch it pass, I resonate at the pitch of discontent, I am peripheral movement, life gets longer today I realize, I can't breathe deeply enough to fill me with every disappointment, And break my heart the way it deserves..." Now that Shai Hulud has broken up, Misery Signals is the only band I can recall having heard in the last few years that has any real hope of redeeming metalcore as a genre, pushing it forward into something challenging, emotional, and musically sound that has a real sense of quality and creativity. Awesome, awesome work... I'm definitely blown away. Very fucking much recommended. (9/10)
Running time - 43:04, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: A Victim, A Target, The Stinging Rain, On Account of an Absence, Five Years, Difference of Vengeance and Wrongs]
Ferret Music - http://www.ferretstyle.com

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