LEVEL 2

It's utterly amazing just how different this album is to 'Last Chance To Reason's" debut. I originally expected some sort of evolution from the raw, unpolished sound of 'Lvl ', but this has such a different sound to it in basically every way, with more technical instrumentation with some aspects of djent, along with a style similar to BTBAM. The vocals no longer sound so poor and messy, with much greater focus on clean vocals, keeping the screams and growls, but simply using them far less frequently, and with far more power behind them. I also like the increased use of synth, as it gives the album a slightly closer feel to what I'm assuming what was intended, considering this band bases its ideas on video games, making the slight electronic aspect fit quite well. However, I find how similar this album can sound to BTBAM's 'Parallax' albums at points to sometimes get in the way of my enjoyment, as the style is incredibly similar, albeit less quirky here.

I definitely find that the songs on this album with the clean vocal hooks throughout to be the better ones on the album, as some of them sound incredible, particularly on 'Programmed For Battle', where the pace picks up wonderfully while the synths in the background make it sound like some epic space adventure. I also find that while some tracks early on don't really do much for me, the album improves exponentially once 'Programmed For Battle' starts, as the album becomes somewhat less generic, along with balancing between technicality and catchiness well. There are some more interesting ideas, along with a much grander sound that's backed up by some more interesting moments, such as the bass solo in 'Portal' or the various moments where some breakcore influence can be heard.

Overall, there aren't really any massive flaws in this album other than the set of three weaker tracks after 'Upload Complete' and a sound that's perhaps a bit too derivative in parts. Other than these, the album definitely ticks a lot of boxes, being really technically impressive while also being enjoyable to listen to. It's compositionally interesting, with the synths and clean vocals giving the listener some extremely memorable moments, along with being enjoyably fast paced. The vocals are also pretty great, as was expected considering Michael Lessard is also the current vocalist for 'The Contortionist'. There's definitely some room for growth and developing more of an identity, but even with what they have at the moment, it's clear that the band has a lot of potential and will likely go on to make some really great music.

Best Tracks: Programmed For Battle, Portal, The Prototype, Apotheosis

Weakest Tracks: Coded To Fail, Temp Files, Taking Control

Verdict: If you're into bands such as Between the Buried and Me and Cynic, then you'll likely enjoy this album quite a lot, as the heavy, sometimes chaotic nature of it will definitely appeal to such fans. I do also find this to be more accessible than such bands, mostly due to the more melodic approach combined with vastly shorter length of albums, making this possibly a decent starting point for people who want to get into such bands.