Prior to this third album, Coventry's Beholder have been an unknown entity to me. They started their discography with an EP in 2008, and have taken some 3-4 years between the releases. Discovering some of their earlier music on the net, I think Beholder had strong North American influences, including bands like Nevermore, Metal Church and Metallica among many more. And certainly some good tunes to boot, just check out 'Show no Mercy' off of their debut album 'The Awakening' (2009)!

While their older material was traditional-influenced, this newbie sounds much more modern. The band still carry some of their Nevermore influences for sure, and Communic and Loch Vostok are other bands that come to my mind while spinning this. However, the modernism has been thrust forth by mathcore tempos and post-metal guitar playing. There's some djent twitching to be heard and open-string guitars are evidences of this modernity-seeking methods. The thing is, that I find them not catchy and just drab for the most of time. The riffs also include more extreme style stuff, like death metal leanings, and some post-thrash elements here and there. It's mostly consisting mainly of pieces played in minor key, so the album carries very dark vibe. This isn't about moshing, it's about heavy, ominous stuff. The songs are between 5-7 minutes long, and sometimes they simply stall. There are some more melodic parts included, and they tend to steal the show. However, they alone cannot lift the album from tediousness it suffers from.

The rhythm guitar tones are dull. It's about modern metalcore style for a big part. When the band want to be heavy, they can be, like on 'My Revolution'. Lead guitar is much more vibrant. There is some acoustic guitar playing to be heard. Finger movements on string can be heard, so they production job is rather raw, but definitely not amateurish; It's heavy, sonorous and well-balanced work. Vocals are manly singing, although they aren't very wide in their spectrum. A lot of backing vocals are utilized.

I personally do not like bands going all modern. Or "modern", as it's bloody old news already. Sometimes progression isn't beneficent. While I cannot get into this kind of music, Beholder are one of the better ones, definitely: I can listen to this album, and not get nauseated. If aforementioned bands with metalcore and djent elements would rock your world, then this is one to check out.

Rating: 6 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
06/26/2016 19:02