With Passion
What We See When We Shut Our Eyes


5.0
classic

Review

by A7XEric USER (7 Reviews)
August 7th, 2008 | 14 replies


Release Date: 2007 | Tracklist

Review Summary: All flash, and even more substance

EDIT (2/20/09): My first review, which I originally wrote in 2007 actually. Looking back I'd definitely rewrite this thing completely and may not have posted it, so try not to be too harsh on it.

Doing something unique is an incredibly challenging thing to do in music these days especially when you're attempting to break into such flooded, oversaturated genres of music like metalcore and death metal. But Sacramento-based technical death metal band, With Passion, seem to do it with ease. Very few bands express a level of technicality that With Passion does, not even, dare I say it, the likes of other technical juggernauts such as Necrophagist, Between the Buried and Me, or Athiest.

But right from the start, What We See When We Shut Our Eyes explodes with its sweeping leads and dual guitars. Just upon hearing the first couple seconds of the opening track, "Pale Horse's Ride", you know you're in for something very special. The good thing is, the album never lets up. From start to finish it's nothing but a guitar player's wet dream. That's not to say the album never slows down a bit though. Even during the album's several acoustic and jazz influenced interludes, the guitar work is still remarkable. And this isn't the emotionless shred that you'd find on a Slayer album. The guitar work is not only lightning fast, but also conveys some type of emotion or feeling. "A Road For the Worthy" in particular even sports several guitar leads that aren't unlike neo-classical acts like Cacophony. And that's a really great thing because all of the melodic guitar lines provide a really good contrast with a lot of the brutality that ensues in between the album's sweep-picking assaults.

Even though this album seems directed more towards guitar geeks, that's not to say its rhythm section is not equally as impressive. With Passion's drummer Greg Donnelly shows some tremendous chops here as well and has greatly improved since his work in the band Conducting From the Grave. All of his toms and cymbals have a very clean sound, again providing some contrast to the more brutal segments of the album. And bassist Mike Nordeen can also be heard throughout the album and has several standout basslines most notably the bass harmony found in the song "Tales of Sirens". Vocals on the other hand can be quite forgettable at times. Fidel Campos has a unique scream that sounds very hardcore influenced and can definitely be picked out among other death metal acts, but it seems that a lot of the melodies are found more in the guitar work rather than vocals.

With Passion's What We See When We Shut Our Eyes is an epic blend of technicality, brutality, euphoria, and chaos. You will more than likely need a forklift to pry your jaw off the ground after giving this album a listen. It's very distinct from anything else you hear in this genre. If you have a deep enough appreciation for music to enjoy more technical works such as this but prefer to do with out all of the progressiveness and lack of focus in other bands like Between the Buried and Me, this is right up your alley. But a word of warning - for fans of With Passion's In the Midst of Bloodied Soil this is a pretty significant change. Actually this isn't even the same group of people who wrote that album, with the exception of two members. This is more or less their current project, Conducting From the Grave, under the name With Passion. But regardless of who wrote the album, it is definitely one of the best things to happen to this genre of music in a long time.

Notable Tracks:
"Pale Horse's Ride"
"Through the Smoke Lies a Path"
"Tales of Sirens"
"Vengeance in Departure"



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user ratings (24)
3.4
great

Comments:Add a Comment 
jrowa001
August 8th 2008


8752 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

this album is not that good

kattunlover69
August 8th 2008


1194 Comments


ya i no like that jactiger7x loser lol

Epilogue
August 8th 2008


1823 Comments


my pale horse is riding you

beans
August 8th 2008


2328 Comments


this album blows
i hate all these people who join the site and write the fastest pooptiest review they can

i work really hard on mine

fuckers

bustyagunz
August 8th 2008


911 Comments


this actually is a pretty good review for a first, but it does seem very biased.

Essence
August 8th 2008


6739 Comments


[quote=someguest]Why do scene kids have to put A7X in all their internet names?[/quote]
[quote=kattunlover69]ya i no like that jactiger7x loser lol [/quote]
Says the person with Kat-tun in their name.

This Message Edited On 08.08.08

FooFighters123
August 8th 2008


73 Comments


Says the person with Kat-tun in their name.


the holy truth.

Killed4less
August 8th 2008


328 Comments


What the fuck has happened to this site.

Essence
August 8th 2008


6739 Comments


What the **** has happened to this site?

A question not worth asking if you like being sane.This Message Edited On 08.08.08

beans
August 8th 2008


2328 Comments


couldnt put it better myself

ToWhatEnd
August 9th 2008


3173 Comments


Dude jacktiger7x is rolling in this thread. Two of the most truthful statements in awhile.

aprehs7
June 14th 2010


15 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

tales of sirens is damon........

ultradevilgod
July 27th 2011


289 Comments


so much disdain on the review...good band though

Digging: Nile - The Underworld Awaits Us All

Dolving999
September 30th 2016


1853 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

I absolutely love the first track, but the rest of the album drags on and on with songs that overstay their welcome. The technicality just gets boring after some time, and you can even notice a few mistakes in tempo coordination.



Conducting from The Grave is waaaay better, it feels like a properly executed and refined version of this.



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