Fall of a Season "After the Last Breath..." CD
[Burning Season]
After the obligatory useless intro track that drags on for far too long (here using synths with samples of flames crackling in the background) these Germans unload five songs of typical melodic Swedish death metalcore with no surprises (and then another longer synth piece as an outro of sorts). Chunky mosh parts? Check. Midrange vocal sneers? Got 'em. Melodic tremolo picking runs and dual guitar harmonies? In place. The occasional discordant metallic hardcore rhythm? Yep, those too. Now, I will say this: These songs are actually pretty damn good for the style. This is a lot better than what I'm used to hearing from these kinds of bands. A whole lot better. However, it's still totally unoriginal, and it doesn't particularly grab me. I don't know, I mean, I've heard this all before. It's cool that they write good songs and have a decent recording, and some of the riffs are awesome, but still... if I want to listen to At the Gates I'll listen to At the Gates. If everything on this disc was as incredible as the last portion of "Waiting for an End" that would be a different story though, because the end of that song is god damn amazing. But really, these cats are so much better at the completely vicious mosh breaks and moderately paced 90's European metalcore stuff than they are the melodic Swedish stuff, so I'd love to hear a more brutal record from 'em. As far as the sound goes, the only things that bother me are that the snare can stick out like a sore thumb and the vocals are a bit too dominant. I really like the guitar tone though, it's heavy and tightly honed. The bass is there too, which is nice and thick. My ears adjust pretty quickly to the mix, but if the drums were warmer and the vocals in closer with the guitars the recording would rip. I like the colors and textures of the layout. The fonts are a little bit stale (not including the band logo, which also looks nice), but other than that it's fairly interesting. The arrangement of the band photos in the center of the booklet is pretty cool as well. Most of the songs deal with personal issues, at times hinting at larger topics: "After the last breath of peace we'll choke on unconsciousness, The economy powers rise while poverty expands, People die in their crusades..." Not bad. I'd like to hear these guys go in a musical vein akin to Earth Crisis' "Destroy the Machines" instead of this trendy melodic metalcore stuff because I think they could make people shit their pants, but what can you do? This is promising. I can dig it. (6/10)
Running time - 23:47, Tracks: 7
[Notable tracks: Waiting for an End, After the Last Breath...]
Burning Season Records - http://www.burningseasonrecords.com

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