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Archspire – Bleed The Future

Peter Jones Leave a comment

I don’t even remember how it happened. It was most likely on angrymetalguy.com, since that is how I tend to find most of my new music. But I recall seeing the cover for Relentless Mutation by Archspire, and thinking “that is some freaking crazy album artwork!”

Little did I know, the artwork was just a shadow of what I would discover on the actual album itself. 

Firing that album up and hearing “Involuntary Doppelgänger” was one of those pivotal moments in my music life. No joke. I knew, going in, that Archspire was technical death metal. So I expected theatrics. My brain and ears were not ready for the level of theatrics. Insane drum fills, lightning fast guitar riffs, and harsh vocals that were so rapid fire and percussive, I still haven’t heard their like. 

But while it was immediate amazement, it wasn’t immediate love. The technical ability on display was untouchable. But so dense was the music that it took a bit to really get into it. However, once I did, I was secondarily amazed at how, despite the insanity of the music, there was still a focus on melody, on the musicality of the songs. It became one of my favorite albums of 2017.

Fast forward to 2021. The announcement of a new Archspire album was now met with immediate anticipation. Listening, over and over again, to the singles that were released prior to the full album dropping, my anticipation was only fed. And then the full album dropped.

Bleed the Future is an unapologetic, brutal, technical 32 minutes. It is also an absolute, unequivocal triumph.

On display is everything about Relentless Mutation that I loved, but better. More speed, more technicality, more vocal lines that are so fast you simply can’t follow them if you happen to watch the lyric video. No joke. But most impressive is this: these songs are catchy as hell. It is true. Despite the brutality, the speed, the insanity of the music, these songs are true earworms. Melodies get stuck in your head, passages embed themselves in a way that just won’t let go or let up.

Very welcome on this release is an improvement in the presence of the bass. Rush was my first love, the first band I went all in on, and I think that has had a huge influence on my lifelong love of bass in music. And so, it pains me when it is absent (And Justice For All I’m glaring in your direction). And while it wasn’t absent on previous releases, it just feels so much more present here. It rounds out each song, adding a depth that is so welcome.

Amongst the insanity there are also many moments to catch one’s breath. These moments of slow and peaceful brilliance are essential and so welcome. While just over 30 minutes long, Bleed The Future would be punishing to get through from start to finish, were it not for these well placed and thoughtful breaks. They are another example of just how tight and brilliant Archspire are. These guys know what they are doing, and understand music incredibly well.

Melodic guitar solos also act in a contrapuntal fashion to the brutal tech death riffing, giving moments of reprieve from the onslaught, injecting beauty in the overall all album. The efficiency of the album in communicating all of this is incredible.

If it wasn’t obvious yet, let me make this perfectly clear. Bleed the Future is a truly amazing album. It is rare that an album grabs me with such a choke hold, but this has done just that. Other very good albums have come out recently, and yet while I listen to them, all I can think is “but I could be listening to Bleed The Future instead!” If this isn’t my top album of 2021, it means something is coming out in the next two months that I am not aware of. I don’t see how any album tops this.

Archspire aren’t just bleeding the future, these guys are creating the future of tech death in a way no other band is. And this is a future I believe in and welcome.

Opeth – Blackwater Park

Peter Jones Leave a comment

As I reflect on my musical journey over the past many years, it is difficult to overstate the importance of Blackwater Park by Opeth. Over time, my tastes in music had been gradually edging towards the more heavy. I was moving beyond the mainstream things like 90s and 2000s Metallica and Megadeth. I was exploring more progressive music, and starting to spread out into genres I hadn’t previously dabbled in. But I had one huge hang up: harsh vocals.

I just couldn’t handle them. I found them too grating, too unrelenting. And so, I instantly rejected any music that had harsh vocals. I’d encountered some minimal harsh vocals, but these were more appropriately classified as screams. Not growls. But, in the era after the release of Blackwater Park it was almost impossible to go anywhere online that wasn’t heaping praise on this album. And most interesting to me was, in the midst of all this, many comments about what a beautiful album it was.

That was what most piqued my interest. Comments about beautiful music, even in spite of the death growls, intrigued me. And so, I fully admit, I downloaded it and gave it a spin. (Full disclosure, I have since purchased the album both physically and digitally. But this was before YouTube, Pandora, Spotify or Apple Music. It was tough to hear new music without coughing up the dough for it.)

And let me tell you something, it was most definitely not love at first spin. I could totally get into the music. But the vocals. Ugh, the vocals. Surprisingly to me, there still were clean vocals, and they were quite nice at that. Yet the death growls still put me off. After a time, though, I started to grow accustomed to them. Some would say it was me becoming dull to them. However, I also started to view the vocals as another layer to the music. They were more a texture than a melody. I believe it was that understanding that opened my mind to harsh vocals.

Once I got over that hump, I was able to really start to appreciate just what an amazing album Opeth had released. Blackwater Park has so many layers. Yes, this is death metal. But deep in a way I was’t expecting. There are loads of acoustic guitars here, moments of quiet peace and contemplation. And then there are moments when this is heavy as a freaking two-ton heavy thing.

Add to that the fact that “Blackwater Park”, the song, is one of the most brutally awesome songs of all time, coupled with so many good songs on this album, and you have one amazing piece of art. To this day, I still feel that art is the best way to describe this album. While I may not love everything Opeth has done since Blackwater Park, this album will always be a watershed moment for me and my musical journey. And if you haven’t listened to “Blackwater Park”, well, it’s below so what the heck are you waiting for?