“Embrace the metal and Embrace the Gutter; real metal is back.” Victory Records sure has some silly adds, first the don’t listen to cooperate rock with Atreyu and Hawthorne Heights and than with real metal and The Autumn Offering. Well as bad as those commercials are the track names are possibly worse, just take a quick peak over at them. Simple stereotypical clichés are found, and not very surprisingly, the same can be said for the music as well. The half-hearted vocals, predictable breakdowns, generic down tuned riffs, and mindless soloing make this album the definition boredom. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I do not believe that this is “real metal.”
Embrace the Gutter plain and simple is a very dull and uninspiring record.
The Autumn Offering attempt something very strange with this record; they keep the standard low riffs and breakdowns found in plenty of the newer metalcore acts. However, in almost every song a shredding lead is present in an attempt to lure some old metal fans. This back fires tremendously, as these solos seem just thrown into the mix with no purpose other than to show off by playing fast. The mindless shredding is present on almost every track as shown in the opening track
Decay . But wait, of course that cannot be the first track on the CD, since the slow and dramatic opening filler tracks are all the rage these days. Everyone from Avenged to Trivium seems to put one of these tracks on their sophomore release and The Autumn Offering is not an exception; funny because throughout the record they seem to follow exactly what has already been done. Yes, quite content with what has already been done and overplayed, the album suffers from repetition and a predictable nature. Vocal wise, there is a constant half screamed half sung tone, more reminiscent of a phlegm invested yell than anything else. This is listenable at times but for the most part lacks inspiration and feeling. For some bands, a compromise can be made if the instruments are outstanding enough that they make up for the under par vocals, but this is far from the case here.
As previously mentioned, the guitars are everything but original. Their riffs are down tuned and do little to separate them from what has infiltrated the mainstream. It is quite easy to call when the riffs are going to become harmonized as their patterns show no variety throughout the album’s duration. Of course the ever so popular breakdowns are in constant supply and are just as predictable as the riffs. Where the album does separate itself is in some of the lead work but as mentioned earlier this ends up a disaster. For the most part, the solos are extremely poorly constructed as they seem to focus on how many notes they can produce in a second as opposed to what it can add to the song. The intro of the first real song
Decay is a prime example of the mindless shredding found in the album; more of a cringe than a jaw-drop occurs from the solos. The second solo on the track is a slight improvement but is still remains a very poorly written solo in general. Obviously this is not the band’s strong point as the solos contain little flow. The self titled track and first single off the record
Embrace the Gutter is the perfect example to showcase the unsurprising structure of the songs. Intro wise the riff is actually one of the stronger ones found on the CD. The harmonization at the end is very easy to see coming and follows the exact pattern throughout the song. Drums do not do a whole lot throughout the title track aside from keeping a steady beat. Plenty of times the vocals sound very tired and just extremely half-hearted. Once again a weak solo is brought into play and once again it has a negative impact on an already suffering song. The harmonization at the end of the solo attempts so hard to be melodic reminiscent of City of Evil or Iron Maiden and fails horribly. Double bass pounds through the outro to one of the worst singles I have heard recently.
The first two tracks show what is to come on the rest of the album. However, the next track
Ghost marks an improvement in some departments, mainly in soloing. The solo is actually decently constructed as it is mid tempo for the most part and works with the song. Following the solo is a harmonized riff section which works very strongly. This little bit of hope established is quickly shattered as a boring and drawn out breakdown dominates the rest of the track. Sadly, most of the record follows this format and does not achieve much more success. As the solos persist it becomes painfully obvious that the guitarists are just not very talented writers in this department.
One Last Thrill is about the best they have to offer in terms of a solid solo all the way through. The little spurs of slower more emotional playing end up hardly better than their shred fests. When used in almost every song, the solos bring down the record a great deal as a whole. The guitarists are not quite at the stage where they should be utilizing solos in most of the songs.
As the album continues, the only thing that really changes is the track title. Formulas and sound are very identical aside from the brief clean guitar parts toward the end. Nothing stands out very much at all, as the music is just bland despite its intention to be strong. It seems the band tried so hard for something different by combining so many elements; the harmonized riffs, the speedy solos, and the breakdowns. The only problem is none of these things are executed with a level of passion or uniqueness that will make it an enjoyable listen. Laziness is also present, as there are seemingly 11 tracks. However, a listen will indicate that the first track is a filler introduction lasting a mere 34 seconds. The final track on the record is an instrumental featuring piano and some brief string sections. Musically it is a good track as it gives off a cool epic atmosphere. However it has no place on the record, since the record itself far from life changing or even good. As the record comes to an end a sense of laziness is shown as there are only 9 real tracks found here, which themselves are far from special.
Innovation is difficult to come across these days. This was not expected to be a life or genre changing record but expectations were higher than this. What is found is nothing more than generic sounding riffs, poorly written solos, and predictable, overused structure. All these things add to a completely uninspiring and seemingly half-hearted record. This could be a mere sophomore slump, but the band appears to be in a hole that will take quite a while to get out of. Perhaps with a more focused effort the band could produce a decent record, but unless their weaknesses are realized by the members themselves, they will forever wear the label of predictable metalcore.
Final Rating: 1.5/5
