After the Burial - Wolves Within (2013) [Gorgatz]

After the Burial - Wolves Within (2013) [Gorgatz]



- I N F O -

After the Burial is an American heavy metal band from Twin Cities, Minnesota. The group is currently signed to Sumerian Records and have released two of their three full-length albums through the label. Since their inception in 2004, the band has experienced two vocalist changes and two drummer changes leaving rhythm guitarist, Justin Lowe, lead guitarist, Trent Hafdahl and bassist, Lerichard Foral as the group's three remaining founding members.

The band has taken part in many metal festivals, fitting along with several derivative forms of the genre and have been credited as a strong contributor to the "djent" scene.

In an era past, commonly referred to as the year 2008 AD, the fabled Sumerian Records released a volley of their best albums from young talent that are, to this day, regarded as the best works by those bands. After The Burial happened to be one of those bands, seeing the release of their monumental album, Rareform. Following the original release, a re-issue was done to introduce fans to the band’s new full time singer, Anthony Notarmaso. Though Anthony didn’t have the rather interesting vocal range singer Grant Luoma did on the original Rareform, he fit the band, bringing his own style to the table. Rareform‘s follow up, In Dreams, was met with jaded reactions from fans and critics alike. After three years, After the Burial have broken their silence with Wolves Within, a valiant leap ahead of the underwhelming In Dreams.

Wolves Within‘s opening track is not exactly the best show of where the rest of the album goes, following a somewhat standard idea of a lively opening track to grab the listener’s attention, which it does quite well. The following track, second single off the album, ‘Of Fearful Men’, is one of the more technical songs on Wolves Within, containing ATB’s signature cheese shred and surprisingly catchy riffing. Not relying on breakdowns to move a song forward speaks volumes about how much more thought was put into this album as opposed to some of their peers’ recent releases. Each track is well thought out with transitions that make the flow of the song logical, many times not falling back on repeating parts within the song, rather being an uphill climb to a soaring finale. Tracks like ‘Disconnect‘ show just how much potential After the Burial still have as a musical force. The progression and groove are undoubtedly next level for the band, containing some of their best melodies and most crushing riffs. ‘Virga‘ is another stand out track that feels like a combined sequel to ‘Drifts‘ and ‘A Steady Decline’ in many ways that are sure to keep fans grinning for the duration. Things are not so great in the vocal department, unfortunately. Anthony Notarmaso fails to keep pace with the rest of the band’s top notch performances. His style feeling quite restrained and bland by comparison, though the awkward clean vocal moments from In Dreams are, luckily, absent.
Sadly, there is an elephant in the room that the wolves can’t seem to bring down. Wolves Within suffers from a fate Sumerian bands have been falling into for years: the stigma of poor production values. It’s been a problem since Born of Osiris‘ second album, A Higher Place, Veil of Maya‘s [id], and most recently, The Faceless’ Autotheism. Sumerian is either not helping these bands out with managing how and where mixing is done or just does not care about the product they’re marketing to their fans, it shows where the label’s favors lie. Born of Osiris got a break on their last album by being able to afford Joey Sturgis, but After the Burial got something that would barely be passable as a mix test on a certain guitar based forum. The biggest problem with Wolves Within‘s production is the drums. It’s not uncommon for bands to utilize tools like Toontrack’s Superior Drummer, and there is no problem with doing so, but bands doing nothing to make the initial stock samples sound any different is worrying, and in cases of this album and Autotheism, downright lazy.

It’s extremely saddening that poor production value is a bigger issue now than ever before despite a marked rise in popularity. It’s even more sad that because this album is marred by lazy production, many fans of the band may overlook the often excellent songwriting and return to form that After the Burial have otherwise delivered on Wolves Within, an album that most fans would have been ecstatic over had it been released in place of In Dreams. At least After the Burial have shown that they have not lost their touch, and they can still be relevant in today’s ever changing music scene.

Nearly one decade ago, After the Burial – a five-piece progressive metalcore/deathcore act – came together after a bunch of friends met at a high school in Minnesota. Since then, the band has released three albums: 2006's Forging a Future Self, 2008's Rareform (and the 2009 re-recorded version, which featured a new vocalist and a live drummer) and 2010's In Dreams. Fans have been anxiously awaiting more new material from the band, especially after a pre-production demo/video was released nearly two years ago. Finally, the guys are back in business and they are set to release Wolves Within on December 17 via Sumerian Records.

Upon first listen, I came to the conclusion that Wolves Within could almost be titled Rareform: Part II. The fretwork is still as admirable as before; there are a few blistering guitar solos or tremolo picking parts on tracks like "Of Fearful Men," "Disconnect" and "Nine Summers," while "Pennyweight" and "Parise" are groove-laden tracks that also feature some interesting guitar leads in the background. "Neo Seoul," in comparison to the rest of the album, is a bit different. It's a much slower and calmer song, for the most part, and its structure is very similar to that of In Dreams' "Pendulum" – except "Neo Seoul" is still loaded with grooves.

The drumming on Within Wolves is probably my favourite part of the album. There are several blast beats and a few lengthy drum fills or solos – most notably the one near the middle of "Virga" – and, as a whole, the drumming this time around just seems a bit more technical than it was on In Dreams. Similarly, the bass is more noticeable; not because it is much more technical, but because it is so powerful and very upfront in the mix.

Vocally, this is almost the same After the Burial as before. Anthony Notarmaso brings some spine-chilling highs and gut-wrenching lows to the table, but there are no clean-vocal parts provided by Trent Hafdahl – or anyone, for that matter. Though that is a bit of a disappointment because I loved the usage of cleans on In Dreams (particularly on "Pendulum" and "To Carry You Away"), it was also a pleasant surprise that the band kept things heavy for the entire 41 minutes. Another thing worth noting is that the gang vocals sound incredible when they are utilized; they kind of reminded me of the chants heard on Salt the Wound's Carnal Repercussions.

The main issue that I had with Wolves Within was the repetitiveness at times. There is a lot of chugging in some songs and most of the guitar leads and solos are very slow, as if they are helping to build up to something – when, in reality, they should be what the rest of the song builds up to. One example of this can be heard in the opening track, "Anti-Pattern," which never really ends up culminating. Another thing that rubbed me the wrong way was the final two tracks, "Parise" and "A Wolf Amongst Ravens." They both drag on at times, making for a relatively frustrating finish to an otherwise very solid album.

Overall, this may not be After the Burial's best album, but it certainly features most of the band's best material to date. After the first track and until the final two tracks come into play, Wolves Within is basically everything that a fan of progressive 'core' music could ask for.

- T R A C K L I S T -

01. Anti-Pattern
02. Of Fearful Men
03. Pennyweight
04. Disconnect
05. Nine Summers
06. Virga
07. Neo Seoul
08. Parise
09. A Wolf Amongst Ravens

Bitrate: Mp3, CBR 320 kbps (transcoded)
Genre: Progressive Metalcore
Size:99.96