Metal Album of The Week: Beyond Creation – Earthborn Evolution
Congratulations, you’ve stumbled into a weekly column where Simon, our station resident metal-head, tells you about a new metal album that you haven’t heard and why that needs to change as soon as possible. Bask in the glory of the riffs, dear reader!
Ah, yes, mid-October . . . The time colleges and universities decide, “Hey, we could give our students time to eat, sleep, breathe, and do all that essential life crap, but wouldn’t it be better if we gave them midterms so they couldn’t?” And then, a bunch of professors who are supposed to be really smart say, “Brilliant! They’re wasting time breathing anyway!” Well, at least that’s how I imagine the myth unfolding. If you have it differently, well, that’s just like, your opinion, man.
Along with said moments of intense studying and not performing any of life’s essentials, I prefer to stimulate myself with massive quantities of tech-death. Luckily, my sleep-deprived brain was in for one hell of a treat this week. Behold, the new album from Beyond Creation, Earthborn Evolution.
Again, there were plenty of choices this week, including the polarizing new Slipknot, but I had to stick with what I was playing on repeat. While my tech-death infused week might be a symptom of the hell that we call midterms, this album will still light a fire under your ass. This isn’t some fake, oodly-noodly tech crap (lolbuttz), this is a solid as hell technical death metal record, with well crafted songs in addition to the awesome technicality of the music.
If you’re someone who bitches about a lack of bass in rock and metal, no need to look any further. The bass on this album is one of my favorite parts: not oversaturated with fuzz or distortion, but a clean and complex rhythm section that really compliments the guitar work. Oh, yeah, did I mention this guy plays a fretless? Thought that would get your attention . . .
If you’re looking to gather energy to study or write a paper this week, put some of these jams on instead of harassing that poor kid on your hall with the Adderall prescription. All natural and all heavy riffage, these boys from Québec are ready to help you out. There are plenty of smoother and quieter moments on the album that give the listener a breather, and only further prove that these guys are insanely talented technical musicians. The production is crisp, giving a clean sound to the guitars so that you can hear every note, even when they’re distorted. That takes skill, and, as a guitar player who overpowers his gain, too much of it can muddle the sound. One has to be flawless to play with a cleaner sound and, honestly, it just makes the riffs that much heavier. Check out a clip, and stream the album on Decibel before its release on October 28th (Okay, whatever I cheated it didn’t come out this week. SHUT UP AND LISTEN).
-Simon SV