From a reviewer’s perspective, it’s regrettable that Arsis took the title of their newest album from the opener ‘We Are the Nightmare’, rather than from the seventh track, ‘Progressive Entrapment’. That particular song title would have summarized nicely this album, which appears to fall victim to the same evil which has inflicted so many metal musicians in the past.
There are many fine reasons to listen to this album: strenuous riffing, flashy guitar arpeggios, and lashings of impossibly fast fretboard runs with tightly executed successive triplets. Vocals are performed with conviction, a combination of later Schuldiner and Slaughter-era At The Gates. Production is crisp, clean and punchy. If the above is all the modern metaller is asking for in his shopping list, he can stop reading here - this disc contains these things in truckloads. Tirelessly the guitarists dash all over the fretboard, making sure they cover all bases in each song. You can imagine the two of them in the studio hammering down riff after riff: ‘Hey guys, listen to this riff’, says one of them, fleshing out an improvised F# diminished minor scale riff. ‘That’s pretty cool, now listen to these gnarly arpeggios i’ve pasted over the top of it’, says the other. Meanwhile an overstressed producer goes to work on his computer, attempting to arrange them into something resembling a song. Impossible - the cobwebs of melody are so built up around the individually constructed riffs that it’s impossible to arrange them into songs, because they weren’t designed with that purpose in mind. It’s a good bet that if the riffs were swapped around randomly, no one would notice. And so we get a series of individually interesting riffs amongst more or less directionless songs, each sprinkled with countless layers of sugared melody lacking any real emotion.
The inclination to be ‘progressive’ can occasionally lead to great things, but as is displayed here, progressive leanings must be put to good use – if not, the most talented musician’s skills will invariably go to waste. All that We Are the Nightmare seems to want to say is that Arsis: a) are scary and metal as fuck; b) can play their axes well; and c) have nothing better to do than to noodle around on the guitar endlessly for 40 minutes. Unfortunately for Arsis, there are other groups like Braindrill who can noodle longer, harder and faster. Sadly, noodling is all some metallers want in their music; meanwhile Arsis’ true fans undoubtedly appreciate them for their distinctive style. This band is clearly talented in more than just hammering out arpeggios –there’s a confident energy and uniqueness there missing from modern metal. Maybe it’s time now for Arsis to cast away the trappings of progressivism and to appreciate that they are actually at their best when their virtuosity is kept on a leash: “Sightless Wisdom” and ‘Overthrow’, for example, are relatively unambitious and so succeed where others don’t, because the simplicity allows a focus on clear-minded song development. These are good songs, not just cool bits and pieces. Whether Arsis’ music will leave a lasting impression on those who like to listen to music carefully, and not just as a quick-fix, will be better judged in a few years time, when more ‘progressive’ versions of Arsis’ craft leave them out-arpeggioed and ultimately forgotten by those who prefer virtuosity over music.
There are many fine reasons to listen to this album: strenuous riffing, flashy guitar arpeggios, and lashings of impossibly fast fretboard runs with tightly executed successive triplets. Vocals are performed with conviction, a combination of later Schuldiner and Slaughter-era At The Gates. Production is crisp, clean and punchy. If the above is all the modern metaller is asking for in his shopping list, he can stop reading here - this disc contains these things in truckloads. Tirelessly the guitarists dash all over the fretboard, making sure they cover all bases in each song. You can imagine the two of them in the studio hammering down riff after riff: ‘Hey guys, listen to this riff’, says one of them, fleshing out an improvised F# diminished minor scale riff. ‘That’s pretty cool, now listen to these gnarly arpeggios i’ve pasted over the top of it’, says the other. Meanwhile an overstressed producer goes to work on his computer, attempting to arrange them into something resembling a song. Impossible - the cobwebs of melody are so built up around the individually constructed riffs that it’s impossible to arrange them into songs, because they weren’t designed with that purpose in mind. It’s a good bet that if the riffs were swapped around randomly, no one would notice. And so we get a series of individually interesting riffs amongst more or less directionless songs, each sprinkled with countless layers of sugared melody lacking any real emotion.
The inclination to be ‘progressive’ can occasionally lead to great things, but as is displayed here, progressive leanings must be put to good use – if not, the most talented musician’s skills will invariably go to waste. All that We Are the Nightmare seems to want to say is that Arsis: a) are scary and metal as fuck; b) can play their axes well; and c) have nothing better to do than to noodle around on the guitar endlessly for 40 minutes. Unfortunately for Arsis, there are other groups like Braindrill who can noodle longer, harder and faster. Sadly, noodling is all some metallers want in their music; meanwhile Arsis’ true fans undoubtedly appreciate them for their distinctive style. This band is clearly talented in more than just hammering out arpeggios –there’s a confident energy and uniqueness there missing from modern metal. Maybe it’s time now for Arsis to cast away the trappings of progressivism and to appreciate that they are actually at their best when their virtuosity is kept on a leash: “Sightless Wisdom” and ‘Overthrow’, for example, are relatively unambitious and so succeed where others don’t, because the simplicity allows a focus on clear-minded song development. These are good songs, not just cool bits and pieces. Whether Arsis’ music will leave a lasting impression on those who like to listen to music carefully, and not just as a quick-fix, will be better judged in a few years time, when more ‘progressive’ versions of Arsis’ craft leave them out-arpeggioed and ultimately forgotten by those who prefer virtuosity over music.
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