Becoming The Archetype: Dichotomy
I’ve managed to acquire quite the reputation for having rather brutal tastes in music, something I enjoy and is actually quite true. I’ve been an ardent fan of Death Metal and Grindcore since the early days and I’m always on the lookout for new bands that break the mold in one way or another, and Becoming The Archetype initially wasn’t one of them. In 2005 they released their first album, Terminate Damnation, and it was good, but struck me as just another Metalcore fly by night group. I was however pleased with the Christian lyrics and a few songs exhibited a progressive leaning which did catch my interest. Their second album The Physics of Fire a concept album delved deeper into progressive territory, and I began to look at these guys as more than the fly-by-night Metalcore band, but rather as an up and coming Progressive Death Metal band, that was bold and intent on taking things down their own path. I waited with great anticipation for the Devin Townsend produced Dichotomy, this was the album that was going to make or break Becoming The Archetype for me, and I was ground to a pulp and spit out like a tree in a wood chipper. This album being one of the last of 2008 to be released, took any doubts, concerns, and expectations and set them on fire with a vengence. The first track Mountain of Souls features Devin Townsend and is a perfect album opener, a well constructed intro with plenty of synths mixed in fit together perfectly to set the mood of both the song and the album. The first minute or so makes it clear they’ve left behind the Metalcore ‘structure’ and rewrote the book. Textured Synths and Lead Guitar work nicely and fall smoothly into a piano solo that in my opinion is a perfect fit and brings down the mood and comes to rest with a well played clean guitar solo. We keep the momentum growing with the title track, a triplet based sound the song keeps us going nicely, mind you these guys are singing praises to God while flattening us with these punishing riffs. This track features a guest appearance by Ryan Clark of Demon Hunter, I’m not going to spoil it, you’ve just got to hear these guys work… Artificial Immortality, the third track doesn’t let you catch your breathe, it’s very melodic sound and lyrical theme of being a living breathing immortal being created by God compared to a robotic lifeless man made ‘cyborg’, for lack of a better term, showcases the growth these guys have made as musicians and Christians. Self Existent moves into deeper territory, one of the more aggressive tracks on the album, they don’t maintain any status quo with this track, throwing breaks of piano, synth and uplifting guitar breakdowns that work extremely well together. St Anne’s Lullaby is a beautiful acoustic guitar peice, extremely unexpected to say the least, but a great listen, we move on to Ransom and Evil Unseen, where these dudes feel like they’re out there to take on the best of the best and showcases death metal as it should be, brutal, unexpected and with purpose. All while giving the Lord his praise. Next we move to a surprise gem. Christians have become quite familiar with the Praise song, How Great Thou Art, but not like this.. This Praise and Worship classic starts off with an acoustic guitar, and moves quickly into the Becoming The Archetype MO focusing on the Praise element of the lyrics and makes you just wanna fall to your knees and headbang and praise until your head falls off.. This track comes complete with Lead Guitar, Blast Beats, the works.. I was extremely impressed with their rendition of this classic. I wish all Christians praised God this completely and thoroughly, Lord knows I need to.. Deep Heaven the next track Jeff Wisdom seems to set out to write his own Praising song and doesn’t fail in anyway shape or form. The intro gives me memories of Dream Theater and Neal Morse, but has that distinct sound that makes it their own. Few can construct a breakdown quite like BTA, and they showcase this skill well transitioning to a piano solo with female background vocals bringing in Dark Side of the Moon feel, then they move into a very interesting movement I can’t really find description for… very diverse and well written. The album closes out with End of the Age. This track is EPIC!! At 6 and a half minutes it’s the longest song on the album and they put some of their best songwriting to the test with this track. Lyrical themes of the End of Days and God’s final wrath leave a chill in your spine while the music almost invites the Apocalypse to being in your head… Only Becoming the Archetype can sing Hallelujah and put forth shear metal as this.
By far their most Progressive effort, and in my opinion one of the best metal albums to be released in several years, Dichotomy is a must have for any one with an ear for metal or progressive or christian music. I’ve always loved praise and worship metal, and this one just may knock Disciple’s By God out of the heaviest Praise and Worship albums. With the usage of Pianos, Synths, and Acoustic guitars perfectly placed within the pure death metal sound these guys throw out work together to satisfy.
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Opeth: Watershed
Some things just get better with age. Fine wine, good cheese, and Opeth. Opeth is mishmash of a little of everything mixed together with a good dose of death metal. Opeth is one of those bands that everyone can like, even those who hate death metal, love Opeth. Members of my church like them, my wife loves them, and there are several at work that enjoy the fine sound that is Opeth. With each release, they have broken tradition, innovated and improved leaps and bounds and Watershed is no exception. I have to admit, I was quite nervous when Martin Lopez left due to health problems, and I became terrified when Peter Lindgren left, so I was expectant of anything with this release, how was working with Fredrik Åkesson going to change the sound, and who’s this dorky lookin blonde haired guy… The thoughts were running wild. When Watershed hit the shelves I was waiting patiently and when I threw in in and gave it the first listen. I was floored to hear the opener Coil, with it’s Folk like 12 string acoustic and Mikael Åkerfeldt’s ever awesome clean singing, and I was further floored to hear a female take up the vocals, provided by Natalie Lorichs, who I believe is Martin Axenrot’s girlfriend, as this faded and then the discordant Heir Apparent exploded into my ears, a smile appeared on my face for the slower paced intro and perfectly mixed instruments were at their best. I love the brooding, eerie mood the song creates and the track creeps along as if to introduce us to the band members, and provide us with a bit of a sense of a jam session. I really dig the mood change with the outro of the song as well, but my nerves were still at odds, what’s the rest of this going to sound like, I’ve bought albums where the first song or first two were awesome, and everything else sucked. But I was soon to be set at peace. The ever carefree humming Åkerfeldt delivers again explodes into blast beats !! Blast beats with clean vocals, I was impressed, this song moves along quickly and is by far the most brutal on the album, The Lotus Eater set to ease any concern I had with the new members of the band. Åkerfeldt and company still manage to throw in some blues, and a real Emerson, Lake and Palmer meets Yes meets Dream Theater keyboard solo, another first for Opeth. Next we move into the mellow track, Burden, flexing their Progressive Rock muscles this song delivers that well, with well delivered keyboard work, and acoustic work to match. I must admit I am still a tad perplexed about the ever detuning guitar outro, but hey, they were probably bored and it ended up sounding pretty cool anyways. Next comes their first single, Porcelain Heart. A perfectly crafted track, does seem a bit aimed for possible radio play?? But I enjoyed the track, this is where we get familiar with Åkesson’s songwriting and unique, yet ethereal additions to the melody of this track. I really enjoy the breaks into the metal forays, this track is pure Progressive Metal with no corners cut. Hessian Peel is an odd track, it boasts some more acoustic work, though the backwards singing is a bit disturbing and out of place, in my opinion. This track rather abruptly jumps into a hyper keyboard sequence that reminds me of the Evening News or maybe an Emergency Broadcast statement before crashing into the aggressive Death Metal section. I will admit, the Death Metal section is the only part I really enjoy about this song, it’s by far one of my least favorite Opeth songs. Finally we end off the album with Hex Omega and this song is a great album finisher. It’s ethereal, brooding and beautiful all wrapped into one. That main verse riff they play on the guitar is beyond description and the outro, a fitting outro for a near Progressive Metal masterpiece.
Overall the album is a great album, it showcases the steady growth of the sound and system that is Opeth, it does have a bit of a rushed feel to it, but I am generally happy with the ideas Åkesson brings to the table, though I’m not sure if I care for Axenrot’s drums. Sorry man, Lopez left you with some big shoes to fill, nothing personal 
. I eagerly look forward to their next album, when they’ve had ample time to acquaint themselves as friends and band members and I know it will be something awesome.
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