Hello all! To preface this, Alustrium is a local technical/progressive death metal band from Philadelphia, PA. Their members are good friends of mine, but I'm going to give this a fair and critical review - but I assure you, these boys are worth giving a listen to.
The Album
- A Tunnel to Eden is Alustrium's Sophomore album, and immediately the listener is thrust right into the title track, which starts with a rather pretty orchestral arrangement, showing the listeners - if they've listened to Alustrium's first album, An Absence of Clarity - that in the four years it took Alustrium to release Tunnel, they've certainly grown and matured in their musicality.
The album features - Mike DeMaria - Guitars, bass
- Chris Kelly - Guitars, bass
- Jerry Martin - Vocals
- Evan Burger - Drums
- Graham Noel - bass
- Daniel Mongrain (Voivod) - guest solo on The Illusion of Choice - Genesis
- Adam "Nolly" Getgood (Periphery, ex-Red Seas Fire) - guest solo on The Illusion of Choice - Eros
- Rusty Cooley (Austrian Death Machine, Outworld, solo artist) - guest solo on The Illusion of Choice - Thanatos
- And various other Philadelphia area musicians for the orchestral bits and group shouts.
Instrumentation
Guitars
- Wow. Alustrium employs the use of 6 strings, 7 strings, and, new to this record, one song with an 8 string guitar. I think it goes without saying, they're not one for the "djent" scene when they use their 7 and 8 string guitars. In fact, they're quite the opposite, sticking to intricate riffs that dance about the frets, but still manage to crank out groovy and catchy riffs (like in In His Own Image and Slackjaw). Guitar solos, to my surprise, are SUPER fun to listen to. I usually don't find guitar solos too interesting as they usually get super wanky and just dull, but Mike DeMaria and Chris Kelly really have written some solos that really peak my interest, some of them bleeding with emotion, which is something tech death - a genre known for being very lifeless - really lacks.
- Tone wise, the guitars cut and punch through. The gear Mike and Chris used is no joke, and the result is very tasty tones. The clean sections and even the acoustic part are no exceptions. Whilst the high gain rhythm tone they dialed in isn't my favorite, that's hardly relevant as it's still a good tone and it works very well for what they do.
Bass
- This is an interesting topic for me. Bass guitar in metal seems to go one of two ways, either play the root of what the guitar is playing, providing a solid low end for the mix. This form of bass playing, while I understand its need and use, I find rather boring. Then, there's option two; actually playing bass, but not sticking to roots and mimicing the guitar.
You might have noticed that earlier, I noted that three people play bass on this album, which is certainly strange. Well, to clarify, Graham Noel (from Philadelphia band Lör) plays the first half of the album, and during My Possessor, the recorded bass track was handled by guitar duo, Mike DeMaria and Chris Kelly. Strangely enough, the transition between the bass players is seamless, which means Mike and Chris are better bass players than I thought, or Graham Noel's parts were written and based around Mike and Chris' skill level (which, still, is significant). - As for the tone, I'm very unaware about what the gear used, but the bass tone, while it doesn't completely cut through a lot, still holds its spot in the back, and has this pleasant snarling distortion to it that sounds just... wonderful.
Vocals
- Jerry Martin (much like the rest of the band) is incredibly skilled and never gives himself anywhere near enough credit. His screams are fierce and dynamic, and pack a deal of emotion (which is amplified during their always-fun live shows). His range, while not the most impressive, still weaves between high screams and low, Morbid Angel-esque growls. In addition to his impressive vocal control, he's usually rather clear and articulate with his words, which is something you can't say for everyone.
- The clean vocals (provided by guitar player Chris Kelly) and gang shouts are used to provide solely background effect. I, personally, would like to see more clean vocals, maybe even a clean feature. That would make them stand out more than they already do.
- Unfortunately, I do not know the lyrics yet, and I do not have access to my CD right now, so I cannot make a comment on lyrics. Sorry!
Drums
- Oh boy. Now, I'm not that much of a drummer, but boy, do the drums excite me. A lot of techdeath nowadays seems very... straight forward, in the sense that it's filled with double bass and blast beats. Alustrium - don't worry, there's still tons of blasts and double kick - gets a little more tasty in their playing, particularly in the clean instrumental, Lucid Dream. Again, I'm not a drummer, so I can't exactly accurately describe what I'm hearing, but I implore you to listen for yourself!
Summary
- All in all, this is really one of my favorite albums of the year, and quite possibly could hold the coveted title of "Album of the Year", even above stellar releases such as Periphery's Alpha/Omega, Between the Buried and Me's Coma Ecliptic, August Burns Red's Found In Far Away Places, Veil of Maya's Matriarch, and potentially even, an album I'm SUPER excited for, Cattle Decapitation's The Anthropocene Extinction.
Is it perfect? Not really, and I do wish there were some things that could be thrown in, such as more clean vocals, the guitar tone could be a little different, bass could be more prominent... but these are small, preference-based gripes that really don't take away from the INSANE music these boys are writing.
I look forward to following Alustrium for years to come. I really hope some lucky label stumbles upon them and realizes their unique and progressive flare. They really deserve it.
The album officially launches July 24th, preorders are available at this link.
Their facebook can be found here! Give them a like!
The first single from the album can be listened to below. Enjoy!
