THE CONCEALERS

I was suprised to see these guys on this site, cause to be honest, I never really thought of them as a prog band. But after listening to their stuff (especially this album), I can kind of see why this band is on this site. Oddly enough the only person who has reviewed this album so far has been my brother, and don't worry, my review is better and more positive than his).

When bands loose members, it usually means that a band has to either try and maintain whatever the band did before, or change to suit their new blood. This album see's a big change from their earlier line up, as their vocalist and keyboardist left. Now with the keyboardist, they just decided to continue on without one, which is a shame because I really loved how keyboards was used in their previous album. Now a new vocalist for a band can really make a big change, because really, the vocalist is the voice of the band. Now I did prefer Sean Farber as a vocalist, but the new vocalist isn't too bad. In fact their a certain aspects of his voice in which I prefer, especially his delivery, which is really impressive. The band also saw a change in record companies from Roadrunner to Century Media, and I'm glad that they did this, cause Roadrunner have seem to really have been dicking with bands in the past.

Now due to a slight change in sound, the band really had to embrace what they can and could not do. Now this album is more compactiable than their other releases, which can either be a good or bad thing, and to me this a good thing. People may have seen their previous album as a bit overbearing, this one is more compactable.

Now talking about the sound of the album, the best way I can put these guys is accessible death metal. It's not too extreme throughout, it's melodic at times and it still maintains the death metal elements, but has its own uniqueness which makes it really easily listenable to any death metal fan.

Now I did say that this is accesible, but even then, this album is pretty indulgent too. The album starts off with your standard death metal songs, but as the album progresses, the songs get more expiermental, with alot of difference in arrangements, sounds and songs, yet it's still pulled off to be seen as very accesible.

The only negative aspects of the album is that the songs dont sound as fillfilled as their earlier stuff. This may be due to the loss of keyboards, but even the production is pretty standard, and isnt too over the top, which really made the last album stand out more.

1. Sharpen The Blades - Great way to start the album. Great catchy hook. You'll be humming this for a whilst I bet. 9/10

2. Self-Corruption Mainfesto - Another great chorus (don't worry, this album is full of these). Nice Lamb Of God like grooves throughout the song. 8/10

3. The Worthless - I remember this was the first song I had heard from this album, and it kind of suprised me, cause I wasn't even aware they had a new album coming out. So really this song was a test of vocalists. And after this song, Sean Z. had passed the test. This is one epic song. Really killer intro, with some great riffs and vocals throughout the song. Best song on the album. 10/10

4. The Unbinding Truth - Great instrumental parts, mainly due to the fact that the instrumental sections are the main focus on the song. Interesting arrangement, making it one of their most diverse songs. 9/10

5. Silenced - Love the blast beats in the intro. Pretty cool main riff. Nice vocals. Great chorus too. 8/10

6. Wilting On The Vine - One of the most diverse songs on the album. Great vocals and a really killer chorus. Some great guitar work too. 10/10

7. Translucent Potency - Nice expanded intro, which reminds me of an epic Enslaved song. One of the most extreme songs on the album, with a nice odd arrangement. 9/10

8. Day Of Endless Light - Another quite extreme moment on the album. Nice chorus and some pretty cool riffs too. 7/10

9. Duststorm - Nice evil techno interlude. 7/10

10. ...Of Posioned Shadows - Nice evil eerie techno carnival intro. I like the dancey rhythms in the song, which shows a great mixture of styles. Nice expanded outro. 8/10

11. Incestuous Amplification - Great fast paced outro. Impressive vocals. A great ending to the album. 9/10

CONCLUSION: All in all, this is a pretty strong release. I don't think it's as good as their previous album, but to be honest, it is different, which I like. These guys have a new album out now, and I can't wait to hear it, cause this has made me excited again for the future of this band.

7.2/10