Artist: White Arms Of Athena
Title: Astrodrama
Genre: Progressive Hardcore
Release Date: 9th January 2012
Label: Prosthetic Records
Album Review
WHITE ARMS OF ATHENA has been compared to likes of other Progressive Metal / Hardcore giants like BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME and AUGUST BURNS RED. While the band doesn’t quite live up to the epic monumental expectations that these fans might have, one thing is for certain: they have their technicality down. Within many of the short tracks on ‘Astrodrama’, there is an excellent duality between hard, pummelling metal and slower, jazzy parts like on the opening track ‘Evince’, one of the few tracks that hold this balance. The incredible atmosphere will hold listeners all the way through, from the bellowing, harsh snarls to the soft clean vocals, which are suited just right for the music rather than feeling too whiny or out of place; everything melds together well. Other tracks like ‘Creationed’ are heavier and don’t really include any sort of clean melodic vocals or softer sections, but the music is still highly technical in the way it jumps all over the place with precision and skill rather than just stay with a flat rhythm, unlike ‘Crown Chakra’. Here the band experiments with just focusing on chords and chugging away with different tones, but even with the technical melodies buried in the background, it just doesn’t live up the fireworks on something like ‘Creationed’, even though the groove is highly catchy.
Lengthier tracks like ‘From Now On’ can be a bit deceiving as BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME fans who might get into this may think there is an exciting epic here. However, after four minutes of hard Metal, there is about a few minutes of silence which kills the inertia of the “epic” altogether. However, the hidden track at the end is a fantastic way to close the album as it is completely soft with faded, clean vocals in the background resembling something similar to the atmospheric works of a band like TOOL. It is a one-time gem that will definitely hook fans who have been seeking something progressive as opposed to just mind bending technicality. Overall here the album is well done - mostly short - but well orchestrated in the sense that listeners can sit through an entire track on the album and not feel bored at any moment with how things change so quickly to new heights and not just back and forth, back and forth between the same riffs. This is definitely worth checking out for those who are fans of band like CYNIC, CONTINUO RENACER, or even a band like TIMES OF GRACE.
Tracklist
01. Evince - 3:43
02. Ascend - 1:51
03. Creationed - 4:26
04. Recreationed - 4:40
05. Crown Chakra - 3:17
06. Astral Body - 2:39
07. In the Encephalon - 4:24
08. Superhuman - 5:35
09. Astrodrama - 6:58
10. From Now On - 8:42
Line-up
Andrew Swinson - Guitar
Austin Rupp - Drums
Colin McDonnell - Guitar
Josh Everett - Vocals
Thomas Sifuentes - Bass
Website
http://www.myspace.com/whitearmsofathena
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 8
Total: 8.5 / 10
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