Easy to place in the 'under appreciated' category of 2008, 'Ley Lines' is the second full-length by one of the forerunners of the 'Deathcore' genre, Embrace The End. Based out of Sacremento, California, Embrace The End first made their mark on the metalcore scene in 2005 with their first full-length 'Counting Hallways to the Left', and again in 2006 in a split release with The End Of 6000 Years.While it's easy to throw the deathcore label at Embrace The End, I think it is crucial to understand that for the most part, the generalizations and stereotypes associated with the genre to not fit Embrace The End. There are no pig squeels, the breakdowns are well placed and not a clutch, and the variety of music in this release is something that most other bands of the genre neglect.
The album is incredibly fast, jumping between riffs at breakneck pace, with a kind of styling of multiple personality disorder. It's like a jumbled mess of riffage and parts that aren't a mess and that somehow work. There are pieces of music that sound like a Red Chord album or some sort of powerviolence/grind band that go straight into some more beautiful slow, melodic pieces without a hint of awkwardness. It's hard hitting and heavy throughout while hitting with great guitar solos and ambienty slower parts when needed.
The album doesn't get muddled down in songs that are too long, and even the songs that do reach a longer time break everything up with the variety that I've been describing. It's not repetition, but a progression through a song and it keeps it fresh. I really enjoy everything about this album, the production is perfect, the musicianship showed in the recordings is great and the vocals aren't standard deathcore type.
Check out this band and album. One of the better releases in the metalcore community this year.
Embrace The End on MySpace
Century Media Records
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