Phinehas - The Last Word Is Yours To Speak (2013)

Phinehas - The Last Word Is Yours To Speak (2013)







Phinehas was formed in 2001 with a simple purpose: to be a band of Christians that brings the hope of Jesus to the hopeless and rejected. Though the line-up has changed over the years, the root of the band has only grown. From their first 10-day tour in 2010 to their 121 shows in 2012, Phinehas has been sharing their story and building relationships across the US. They want the people they meet on the road to walk away feeling loved for who they are no matter where they may be in life.

Musically, when Phinehas' debut full-length "thegodmachine" was released in 2011, they caught the ears of critics and metalheads across the globe. From the shreddy riffs and the sassy solos to the versatile vocals and the pounding drums "thegodmachine" brought a freshness to a scene that was suffering from the over-saturation the digital age has wrought. The mustaches they donned in one of their promotional photos even inspired a fan to coin Phinehas' music as "mustache metal". They released three music videos from their debut that have accumulated over 1.2 million views combined.

Now 2 years following their debut on Red Cord Records, Phinehas is ready to push themselves even further with their sophomore effort "The Last Words Is Yours To Speak." Under the pressure of having to follow up their critically-acclaimed debut, Phinehas delivers in a big way. Their new album ups the ante of metal in every aspect. It's faster; it's heavier; its production value is top-notch; and it will be stuck in your head from the first listen. With this new record and their relentlessly energetic live performances, Phinehas is ready to carve their niche in the music industry for good.


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Being rather out-of-touch with Red Cord Records’ catalog of artists, I was rather surprised to see Phinehas releasing a full-length with them, considering the decent amount of hype following the band's last release, thegodmachine, not to mention the decent sense of humor displayed in previous music videos. With the band's newest release, The Last Word is Yours to Speak, I was curious to see which direction this metalcore outfit would be heading.

Contrary to the title of the album, I have a full three words to speak about this album: Bands, take notes. The mix is perfect for these tracks, with the bass and guitars equally audible, not to mention the snare doing a decent job cutting through. The vocals are right in the front as well, with Sean McCulloch’s voice right in the front of everything you hear at all times.

Before I go further, there is one aspect of this record that needs highlighting. The guitar work is not only technical, but almost maddeningly catchy. For example, the beginning riff of “Blood on My Knuckles” is more reminiscent of a nu-metal band – almost sounding like something from radio rock – yet the bass and drums in the back make the riff sound heavy and maintain its catchy nature. This happens on most of “Salting the Mine” as well, with another radio rock-like riff latent with metalcore elements behind it, the sound coming together in spectacular fashion.

That being said, the first single, “Fleshkiller,” as well as being the first non-intro track on the record, is the most intriguing because it is really the least progressive of the tracks. At the same time, it shows a level of technicality and song structure that most metalcore bands don’t come close to matching. “Fleshkiller” has an August Burns Red meets Oh, Sleeper vibe to it, with cleans in the chorus shining through the instruments in an anthem that had me bouncing the whole time. Even the breakdown to the song has a catchy lead riff over it, making it interesting as well as heavy. This aspect of the song, as well as the entire record, is something many bands tend to ignore. Phinehas always has a riff at their disposal on this record, with few enough simple chugging parts that you could count them on one hand.

If there is a single gripe that I have with this record, it comes from the clean vocals. Through my listens, it became apparent that each chorus shared similar notes because of the limited clean vocal range. Sean McCulloch has a tendency to go to the same few notes to hold at the end of a line of lyrics, and it really weighs the chorus down at times, most notably on “The Deepest of Graves” and “Manipulator’s Wire”. Though this does happen, at the same time, it also gives a level of connection between each of the tracks, making those songs feel more like part of the album than just separate songs. In this regard, that aspect of the vocals can be overlooked.

Bands, take notes. Learn from Phinehas and what they have done with “The Last Word is Yours to Speak” because the band has just created a masterpiece of metalcore that should be used as an influence for years to come. Phinehas has successfully brought riffs back into a genre that has tried its hardest to abandon them, and done so in spectacular fashion. If you’re a fan of August Burns Red, Oh, Sleeper, or even just heavy metal in general, give this record a spin or two, and welcome Phinehas into the forefront of metalcore.


Tracklist:

01. Throes
02. Fleshkiller
03. The Deepest Of Graves
04. Blood On My Knuckles
05. Twisted
06. De El Quatro
07. Out Of The Dust
08. The Blessing And The Curse
09. Dyson Sphere
10. Manipulator's Wire
11. Salting The Mine
12. From A Burning Sun
13. WWII

Genre: Core
Subgenre: Melodic Metalcore / Hardcore
Bitrate: 320 k
Size: 110.52 MB