For those who’ve not heard of French Deathcore outfit “Betraying the Martyrs”, “The Resilient” sets as a perfect album for their introduction. Although, this being the bands third album, which was released on 27th January 2017 under the record label of Sumerian Records, the band saw quite a few line-up changes with Eddie Czaicki (vocals), Antoine Salin (Drums) and Fabien Clévy (lead guitar) being replaced by Aaron Matts (lead vocals), Boris Le Gal (drums) and Lucas d’Angelo (lead guitar). For the sake of clarity Mark Mironov (Drums) worked on this album and said his goodbyes by the end of 2016. With the addition of newer folks, the sound generally takes a new direction, which it did with this album.
The Deathcore Genre needs no introduction and can easily pointed out for its odd time signatures, plenty of breakdowns, blast beats on the drums and the guttural growls. The band imbibes quite a few atmospheric elements and melodies in its song writing also giving a large chunk of vocal share to clean melodic vocals. Since its formation back in 2008, the band has released two full length albums “Breath in Life (2011)”, “Phantom (2014)” and a debut EP “The Hurt, The Divine, The Light”, a self-produced recording funded entirely by the band and mixed by Stephane Buriez. The band has toured extensively and played at the famous “Bonecrusher Tour”, “Sumerianos Tour” and “European Eclipse 2012” In 2012 and “Greenfield Festival”, “Ghosfest” and “Never Say Die!” in 2013.
Starting off with the album, which opens with a highly energetic track, “Lost for Words”, we are captivated with gut wrenching screams complemented with clean melodic vocals, Blast beats, Odd time signatures, well-crafted guitar breakdowns, rumbling bass line and to top it off a well-orchestrated orchestra. The staccato guitar solo punches in tight. “Take me back”, “Wont back down” and “Dying to live” have a boyish charm with its intro, and as the song progresses, we hear all the Metalcore elements with death growls, the chorus just as its Intro is catchy and gets you singing along.
“The Great Disillusion” packs a punch again and again with crafty blast beats coupled with the aggressive guitar riffs and breakdowns. “The Resilient” starts off with marching drum beats and an orchestra, eventually pushes you into a spiral abyss with the omnipresent Blast beats and by now a formulaic set in and can be observed. “Unregistered” unleashes raw pent up energy, the death growls remain at the same pitch and fails to intrigue its listener after a given amount of time. The clean segments of the songs act as an interlude and provides songs with musical direction and melody and breaking off the monotony.
A Djent riff is ambushed with blast beats and takes you by a surprise in “(Dis)connected”. “Behind the Glass” and “Ghost” sets a pretty ambient backdrop for the low guitar notes being chugged at odd intervals making both very eerie songs. “Waste my time” and “Wide Awake” both have crushing guitar riffs and innovative ambient layers, giving the songs a slight techno feel. Nevertheless, the album ends on a high note with a catchy chorus on “Wide awake”.
Production: The sound on this album is mature and has plenty of ambient elements to give it a powerful and complete sound. All the instruments can be heard well, the clean vocals set the direction for the songs, whereas screams on this Deathcore/Metalcore album gives it a punch.
Conclusion: The band uses all the arsenal they have, to produce a heavy and melodic sound. The power metal/Symphonic element heard on the previous albums seems to be missing and may not go well their fans, however taking this new direction the band will definitely gain a lot of appreciation from the brethren. I recommend you buy it!
Rating: 7.5/10
Written by: Ankit Sood
Tracklist:
1. Lost for Words
2. Take Me Back
3. The Great Disillusion
4. Dying to Live
5. The Resilient
6. Unregistered
7. Won’t Back Down
8. (Dis)Connected
9. Behind the Glass
10. Waste My Time
11. Ghost
12. Wide Awake
Band members:
Victor Guillet – keyboards
Baptiste Vigier – rhythm guitar
Valentin Hauser – bass guitar
Aaron Matts – lead vocals
Lucas D’Angelo – lead guitar
Boris Le Gal – drums
Albums:
“The Hurt the Divine the Light” EP (2009)
“Breathe in Life” (2011)
“Phantom” (2014) (review)
“The Resilient” (2017)
Record Label: Sumerian Records, Jan. 2017
Weblinks: Facebook / Twitter / iTunes
Buy the album here:
Holland: First Paradox
Norway: Nordic Mission
Video for: ‘ The Great Disillusion’
Video for: ‘Lost For Words’