Rumour has it: Astaroth has stolen your eyes
This somewhat catchy album title caught my attention at a local music store today. Not to mention the well done album art work as well. What made me buy this album most was that there was this sticker on the album saying
For fans of Atreyu, As I Lay Dying and It Dies Today. Now, atreyu and it dies today to me are alright, but i quite enjoy as i lay dying, so i thought i might as well buy this album and hope that i find something similiar.
Catherine is:
Bryan Lemasters - Vocals
Robert Tobin - Guitars
Jesse Alejandrez - Guitars
Julio Garcia - Bass
Andrew Franz - Drums
As you press the play button on your CD player,
DCLXVI greets you with a simple drum beat followed by some melodic riffs from the guitars. Then Bryan comes in with standard metalcore affair screams. Double bass drums are used fairly much in here. Lyrics here like
"How does it feel to lose your eyes to a distraction so complete you dont know it happened?. The song, although somewhat repetitive is quite catchy and is a good opener IMO. There are no pauses in between songs, so songs are somewhat linked to each other.
Unfortunately, once you've heard the first song, you've pretty much heard the whole album. The standard metalcore scream is used all throughout this album except for one or two moments when Bryan goes into low growls in songs like
Is it tomorrow yet?, which is not bad IMO, and if i remember correctly, there is only one part with clean vocals. The guitars on here are mostly melodic/metalcore riffaging over and over again, with each song having their own melodies. Like in many metal bands nowadays, the bass is rarely heard, save for
Latnemurtsni, which in itself is an instrumental track. A clean section from the guitars starts the song followed by the drums and bass. The bass here is quite prominent and you'd have to say Julio hasnt done a really bad job. Breakdowns are scattered here and there in this album, like in
Is it tomorrow yet? and
Evil man, dead man. Yet again, standard metalcore affair breakdowns, but i do realize that the catherine boys try to make their breakdowns as heavy as they can, with Bryan mostly growling instead of screaming in the breakdowns. Andrew does a good job behind the drums. He knows his stuff, and is pretty keen on his double bass. Some nice fills are again here and there.
Sadly, these guys will only be dismissed as a trendy yet-another-metalcore-band. This is such standard metalcore for you. melodic guitar riffs, breakdowns and hardcore screams. The production here is quite clear cut, everything is heard well, except for well...the bass. Another downside about this album is that there are absolutely no solos at all. The guitarists plays just riffs throughout the whole album, so the lack of variety is there. Not to mention that the whole album sounds as one song in itself and the no pauses between songs doesnt help that cause either. The screams are alright, but i just wished Bryan had growled more. He is capable as shown some tracks on here.
I'm going to give this a 3.5, but only because im quite into metalcore. So did i find anything similiar to AILD? well, yes and no...
My Final Rating: 3.5
Rating inside genre: 4
Rating outside genre: 3
Recommended tracks:
none, most of them sound the same. If you like one of it here, you're bound to like the rest.
