Arsis - A Diamond for Disease EP

[circus_brimstone]

Arsis – A Diamond for Disease EP
Willowtip Records – WT040 – October 25th, 2005
By Jason Jordan

The highly anticipated A Diamond for Disease has finally dropped, and said anticipation springs mainly from the battering ram that was, and is, A Celebration of Guilt. Not only did Arsis garner critical acclaim for their debut, but the masses suddenly jumped on board – without warning – which helped to spread the anxiousness attached to this particular release. Sporting three songs that last twenty-minutes total, the new EP is quite a hearty chunk of melodeath.

Hearkening back to stalwarts such as Carcass and At the Gates, the duo’s influences surface frequently enough to capture snapshots here and there. The buzz surrounding A Diamond for Disease is due predominantly to the thirteen-minute, monster of a title track. And what a track it is. The impeccable timing, ferocious riffing, and flawless drumming can ensnare even the most skeptical of consumers, but the real gem is the melodiousness inherent in Arsis as a whole. Needless to say, the thrash approach has been integrated into the EP, and there’s an abundance of wily guitar leads slinking about on this outing. I use “slink” because the leads don’t always occupy the forefront. Naturally, “A Diamond for Disease” is a wild ride in all respects, though it doesn’t wrestle the overused formulas into submission through unconventional means. In other words, versions of this have been done before. “Roses on White Lace,” the second of three, is an Alice Cooper cover, and it’s here that Arsis sound more like Arch Enemy than anybody else. Still, the homage is overly triumphant, and “The Promise of Never” is a solid, albeit less riveting, tune.

I don’t know whether you saw this coming or not, but A Celebration of Guilt trumps A Diamond for Disease for a number of reasons, as it probably should. Anyhow, the latter is a well-written piece of death metal that fuses technicality and melody in an oh-so-tight manner. Go with the full-length before the EP; although don’t let this slip through your fingers just because it’s shorter fare. There are nutrients in this, too.

8/10

Official Arsis Website
Official Willowtip Records Website

 

[Mountain Dew]

“The Promise of Never” is a solid, albeit less riveting, tune.

It's also an old song that also appeared on their 2003 demo. It's been rehashed with some new leads. I expect their upcoming full length to be a little more...fresh.

 

[Disappointed]

This was the most looked forward to release for me this year.

After last year’s “Celebration of Guilt” Arsis became one of my favorite bands of all time, and that album ranks in my top favorite thrash albums of all time. But you can’t fathom my disappointment in this release.

Contrary to what everyone else seems to have said about this EP, I found it to be very un-musical, un-dynamic and not very melodic (in terms of being memorable) at all. Sure, its technically beyond human comprehension, but that’s kind of what’s sad… the required time to build the chops to execute this piece would have been better spent on a more interesting and dynamic arrangement and recording.

There’s one memorable melody in the title track (the refrain), but the rest is just blasting 16th-note drums which rarely change or offer any dynamic to the guitars. I don’t know how they really could, however, because the guitars don’t really let up either – the drums just follow suit while James Malone does about 4 tracks of blinding scales over chugging rhythm parts.

Add to this the fact that this is probably the most heavily compressed mix I’ve ever heard. You can’t hear any tone in the drums at all – just clickiness. And the guitars just completely obliterate the drums. Sometimes this can be made up for in terms of arrangement of the guitar parts to give the song its momentum and air, but these songs are so choked up with the blinding guitar runs that it becomes impossible and making this technically astounding feat incredibly arbitrary. I can’t imagine ballet being very successfully performed to such a static pummeling.

I think the Alice Cooper cover of “Roses and White Lace” is just a really bad idea to begin with. The track knocks Arsis from the mighty and inspired melodicism, hooks and momentous arrangements of their first album to sounding like the faux-rebellious mid-tempo arena-rock vibe of Arch Enemy.

The third track, “The Promise of Never” is a lyrical reprise of sorts to the title track, which might have been a more interesting and effective idea had it not been interrupted by the cover tune, which takes the band too far out of context for it to return effectively. The track suffers from the same arrangement and production syndromes that the title track does while adding an overwrought, obligatory f-word to the lyrics. Said once, it might have served as an emphasis. Repeated, it becomes cliché.

One very ardent fan’s opinion. Avoid this, buy the first album and hope the upcoming full length kicks as much ass as “Celebration of Guilt” did.

 

[anonymousnick2001]

Meh, I agree with everyone. Not ACOG, but meritorious in its own respect. At least the drums aren't in the forefront drowning everything out like the enw Cryptopsy.

Looking forward, of course.