LEVEL 3

I'm quite disappointed in this album after 'Last Chance To Reason's' mostly solid 'Level 2', which took the sound of bands like 'Between The Buried and Me' and then slightly simplified thing, adding more cleans and melodic hooks, overall making it more accessible while still being an interesting listen. For 'Level 3', I can basically describe it in exactly the same way, with the only added component being a darker sound in parts, with the cleans sometimes being quite muffled and distorted, which is quite interesting, but doesn't do much to separate itself from the previous album.

Despite what I've just said, I really love the first 2 tracks. 'Rebirth' is better than the majority of 'Level 2', with some incredible clean sections along with some decent riffs and a cool solo, overall opening the album excellently. 'Adrift I: A Vision Begins' is probably my favourite song here, because I do find it to be quite distinctive from the rest, with a vocal delivery that's very reminiscient of 'Deftones', which was a surprise on first listen, and consistently remains a great song, even once the initial novelty wears off. The next three tracks are all fairly standard, with some decent sections, but overall, nothing particularly amazing other than the chorus of 'A Glimpse of Omniscience', which is simply divine.

The issue with this album happens to lie in the tracks after 'Adrift II', which while decent, are nothing special, and end up making the album drag slightly despite the length only being 39 minutes. I do find this to be quite disappointing both considering how great the first few tracks were, and the potential this band clearly has, as I don't see anything to fault them on in terms of skill. This last portion of the album, up until the serviceable 'Transcendence', which brings back the compositional ability that the first few songs had, especially in terms of the great solo about halfway through, and it definitely ends the album on a high note.

Overall, this album is decent, but nothing spectacular, with some great songs, despite them sounding very similar to their previous album, but then having a string of songs that are dull. This makes the album flow poorly, and leaves the listener feeling bored by the end. That said, in terms of style, I enjoy the album quite a bit, and definitely haven't lost hope of ;Last Chance To Reason' releasing an incredible album, this just doesn't happen to be it.

Best Songs: Rebirth, Adrift I: A Vision Begins, Transcendence

Weakest Songs: The Dictator, The Artist

Verdict: I feel that if you liked 'Level 2', then you'll enjoy some of this, despite it being inferior in most ways. I'd definitely recommend you listen to this one after 'Level 2', as that is by far a better album and will likely leave a better impression about the band. Overall, while this isn't bad, it's nothing amazing either, and I don't consider this to be particularly essential at all.