Aletheian – Dying Vine
Ironclad Recordings – 3984-14664-2 –13 May 2008
by John Norby
It’s pretty much a fact of metal these days that a vast proportion of bands like to play on the technical side of the fence and, while that’s all well and good, there’s a lot within that vast proportion who really need to concentrate more on songwriting and less on compiling riff collections. Thankfully, Pennsylvania’s Aletheian have plenty of both on latest album Dying Vine and have come up with a release that, despite competing with a slightly dodgy production, should satisfy the majority of tech-heads.
It’s completely fair to say that there’s an awful lot of Chuck Schuldinder worship on Dying Vine – more than on the band’s earlier material – but equally fair to commend Aletheian on their efforts because (a) Schuldinder was a true legend who deserves such appreciation and (b) Aletheian pull it off astoundingly well. Yes, there are many moments on this album where Schuldiner is referenced - almost to the point of sounding like unused riffs from latter-era Death on the likes of ‘Broken Legacy’, ‘As The Fall Breaks’, and ‘Call To Arms’ – but this band manage to do it without sounding like rip-off merchants.
Aletheian have molded and shaped an album that stands above the majority of technical death metal bands out there today. Okay, that certainly can’t be said of the production, which does have mixing issues – particularly on the drums – but if you listen to this and imagine what it would be like with a gleaming production… it would DESTROY! That aside, Dying Vine is an amazing album, sporting a hefty dose of extreme progressive metal that succeeds in remaining varied throughout. With riffs running from ultra-tech to simple, groove-based and vocals that utilize guttural growls, clean passages and – for the most part – Zao-like screams, there’s plenty to get excited about on here.
A very cool feature of this album is that it closes with a stunning cover of Cynic’s ‘How Could I’ from their legendary 1993 album Focus. Certainly not an easy thing to pull off, but Aletheian have done it in absolute style. Remaining very true to the original in terms of structure but adding just enough of their own zest to be able to call it their own, so to speak, it’s a gem of a closing song. Well done Aletheian!
Official Aletheian Website
Official Aletheian Myspace
Official Ironclad Recordings Website
Ironclad Recordings – 3984-14664-2 –13 May 2008
by John Norby
It’s pretty much a fact of metal these days that a vast proportion of bands like to play on the technical side of the fence and, while that’s all well and good, there’s a lot within that vast proportion who really need to concentrate more on songwriting and less on compiling riff collections. Thankfully, Pennsylvania’s Aletheian have plenty of both on latest album Dying Vine and have come up with a release that, despite competing with a slightly dodgy production, should satisfy the majority of tech-heads.
It’s completely fair to say that there’s an awful lot of Chuck Schuldinder worship on Dying Vine – more than on the band’s earlier material – but equally fair to commend Aletheian on their efforts because (a) Schuldinder was a true legend who deserves such appreciation and (b) Aletheian pull it off astoundingly well. Yes, there are many moments on this album where Schuldiner is referenced - almost to the point of sounding like unused riffs from latter-era Death on the likes of ‘Broken Legacy’, ‘As The Fall Breaks’, and ‘Call To Arms’ – but this band manage to do it without sounding like rip-off merchants.
Aletheian have molded and shaped an album that stands above the majority of technical death metal bands out there today. Okay, that certainly can’t be said of the production, which does have mixing issues – particularly on the drums – but if you listen to this and imagine what it would be like with a gleaming production… it would DESTROY! That aside, Dying Vine is an amazing album, sporting a hefty dose of extreme progressive metal that succeeds in remaining varied throughout. With riffs running from ultra-tech to simple, groove-based and vocals that utilize guttural growls, clean passages and – for the most part – Zao-like screams, there’s plenty to get excited about on here.
A very cool feature of this album is that it closes with a stunning cover of Cynic’s ‘How Could I’ from their legendary 1993 album Focus. Certainly not an easy thing to pull off, but Aletheian have done it in absolute style. Remaining very true to the original in terms of structure but adding just enough of their own zest to be able to call it their own, so to speak, it’s a gem of a closing song. Well done Aletheian!
Official Aletheian Website
Official Aletheian Myspace
Official Ironclad Recordings Website
