INVADE

On paper, Invade has every ingredient to succeed as a modern technical death metal/metalcore release. Insanely fast drumming, shredding guitars, technical song structures, and loud vocals - the entire ordeal is here in full form. But once you start to dig beneath the surface, it's hard for me to find anything here aside from generic metal riffing, lifeless compositions, and uninspired vocals. Although the guitar acrobatics can be fun to listen to from time to time, I simply can't see anything here that's above average. The music is lifeless, and fails to move me in any way. Maybe fans of really technical and complex extreme metal will like this one, but I honestly think that you can find much better in that department. Despite all of the good things about this album (the production is great and the musicians are talented), Within the Ruins seems to be lacking one very important thing in terms of songwriting. Even after I've just heard the album, it's awfully difficult for me to even recall one melody, and that is ultimately the problem with Invade. If this band wants to really impress me with a future release, they need to hone in on their songwriting skills a bit.

Even though the compositions fail to move me in any way, there are still plenty of good things about Invade. The most obviously positive thing about the album is the incredibly technical musicianship, which is always truly impressive. Whether or not you enjoy the music, the technical proficiency of the group is unquestionable. The vocals are somewhat monotonous at times, but they are generally strong as well. As previously mentioned, the really big issue here is the lack of memorable songwriting and a distinct sound. Within the Ruins sounds almost identical to the tons of American technical metalcore bands nowadays, and that is definitely another major issue. With that said, if these guys can really work on making more memorable songs and a more unique sound, I can see these guys making a really good album in the future.

The production sounds great, and is one of the most positive things about Invade. This mix is professional, dense, and very clean.

I was pretty disappointed by Invade, despite some of its major assets. When the music seems this uninspired and generic, technical proficiency and a polished production can only help so much. If Within the Ruins takes a more original and memorable approach in the future, I can really see them succeeding in the crowded technical metalcore genre. As it stands, fans of highly technical extreme metal will probably enjoy this, but I'm not one of them. The most I can give this album is 2 stars. Despite my lukewarm feelings, I really do hope that their next effort is much more impressive - they definitely have the chops.