Chuck Schuldiner Project

Friday, January 28, 2011

Was and is to Come - Thy Will Be Done

I'm dedicating today to reviewing christian metal bands because I have quite a bit of free time, and because I figure I'd like to keep things a bit categorized. Was and is to Come is substantially better than the previous album I reviewed, The Raven and the Reaping. Was and is to Come has, IMO, a very similar sound, but it is far better executed in this instance. 


Starting at the first track, "Voice Divides", Was and is to Come is pretty much one big compilation of great riffs with plenty of hardcore/hard rock influences. As much as most of the metal community hates the core genres, I think that, when executed well, core genres can hold their own with more conventional genres like Death Metal and Grind Core. The solos are played with a somewhat clean sound to the guitar that reminds me of Brand New Sin. Really, its difficult to explain the sheer awesomeness of the guitar on this album, its not really so much great on CD, and much as the concept of experiencing this at a live show. The bass has a fairly metallic tone to it and sound like its been tuned upwards a bit, fairly clear.


The vocalist doesn't innovate, but seems to have a very good grasp on screaming techniques and styles, switching through three or four throughout the album; something loosely equalling a death growl, a black metal scream, and two tones of hardcore screaming.


The drums have appropriate speed and were recorded well. An occasional drum fill and generally proficient panning all lend themselves to a very solid drum performance, 8/10.


Was and is to Come may not innovate, but it is certainly well executed. If you like this album, you might want to check out killswitch engage, and vice versa. I might say this is a perfect ten, but there simply isn't enough innovation going on, and regardless of how well Thy Will Be Done played their instruments, they seemed to lack the anger, or emotion in general, that a metal album really needs to be "great"


8.25/10

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