Beyond the Embrace – Against the Elements
How people can still get excited over melodic, Gothenburg influenced death metal these days is far beyond me, but bands in this vein are still popping up, and getting signed by predominant metal labels. Beyond the Embrace is Massachusetts based and the only way they differ from the grooved out and melodically memorable, middle era In Flames worship, is in the half and half mix of coherent death vocals and James Hetfield styled crooning (not an exact clone by any means, but the delivery is similar). Somewhere between tuneful and a clean shout, this vocal style sounds out of place and underdeveloped in this context, not to mention the actual performance bugs the hell out of me. There is power and definite movement in some of these tracks, but the harmonies all sound painfully familiar. Perhaps more exciting drum work (this guy does little to spice up the riffs he’s holding together) would have pushed “Against the Elements” into more intense territories, but really what’s on display here has been done many times before and better. Boring death metal-lite packing enough emotion to inspire you to hug a bunny or go out and buy a nice sweater. – Marty
METAL BLADE RECORDS
Worm Gear 