(resonance of reforming)
the blog of Jerry Bolton
…man, machine, and progressive christian death metal worship
Sep 22nd
Title: Dichotomy
Artist: Becoming The Archetype
Label: Solid State
Length: 10 Tracks / 43:22
For More Info: http://www.becomingthearchetype.com | http://www.solidstaterecords.com
If you’re as old as me, you remember third wave ska. In Christian circles, that meant Five Iron Frenzy, The OC Supertones, and The Insyderz – the band that turned out some (admittedly decent) ska worship records, appropriately entitled Skaleluia!. On one of those records, at the beginning of a decidedly non-metal song, one of the band members introduces the track by saying “Christian Metal never dies, baby!”. I remember when that record came out, and I remember my friends repeating that quote ad-nauseum (of course, when I was a teenager, it was cool to “be metal” – whether you actually were or not). Either way, I appreciated the sentiments – Christian metal really never does die. Thus, although the source is suspect, the addage rings true.
Becoming the Archetype (hereafter BtA) burst onto the metal scene in 2005’s Terminate Damnation. At the time, the record was quite a departure for label home Solid State, who hadn’t had an honest-to-goodness metal band on their roster since the legendary Living Sacrifice folded a year or two prior. Full of great riffs, solos, and varied and complex orchestration, Terminate Damnation was a bright spot the year of its release. The band followed up with The Physics of Fire in 2007 and it was largely more of the same – lots of metal riffage, lots of great solos, a great mix of pacing, and more of the interesting orchestral accompaniment. Throughout both records, BtA explored traditional metal, progressive metal, death metal, doom, metalcore and other various styles within that spectrum.
This past year, 2008, brought BtA’s third and most recent outing – a collection of ten songs by the name of Dichotomy. Borrowing some of its lyrical themes from the science fiction “Space Trilogy” of C.S. Lewis, the titular ‘dichotomy’ lies between biology and technology – man and machine. Fairly typical sci-fi fare, but rather atypical for metal fare. Of course, seeing as this isn’t a concept record, and seeing as this is Becoming the Archetype, there is also a good smattering of biblically inspired lyrics to round out the content. Demon Hunter’s Ryan Clark comes through with some great guest vocals (clean and scream) on a handfull of tracks. Topics covered range from considering the superiority of the things God has created relative to the things man has made (”Artificial Immortality”) to a retelling of one of the Bible’s most damning passages (Romans 1 – on “Dichotomy”) to an imaginative and powerful account of seeing Christ’s empty tomb (”Self Existent”). The best song on the record, though, undoubtedly goes to the one track that BtA didn’t write – namely, their dominating and intense take on the classic hymn “How Great Thou Art”.
Becoming the Archetype follows in the lyrical footsteps of some of the great “Spirit-Filled Hardcore” of the 90’s – bands like Focused and Unashamed… and rides the musical wave that started with Living Sacrifice’s legendary album Reborn. In 2008, the result is bone-crunching progressive death metal (real metal, not a hybrid) with unabashed Christian lyrics whose primary source is Scripture, whose primary tone is worship, and whose voice is unapologetic, direct, and bold. Highly recommended, high-quality metal. The music is great, the vocals are great, the production is great, and the solos (yes, the solos) are great. This is this band’s best album to date. All of that being said, the thing which most impressed itself upon this reviewer is that Becoming the Archetype has finally arrived at a place where they write really catchy songs – the kind that get stuck in your head. The technical proficiency and musicianship has always been there, but this time around BtA really nailed their sound, their content, and their focus. Dichotomy is amazing. Christian metal never dies, baby.
Curious about the name? The band’s website says this: “According to Genesis 1:26, “God said, ‘Let us make man in our image’”. Since Jesus was the only person to ever live a sinless life, He is the ultimate archetype (or original design) of humanity. As a result, the life of a [Christian] is all about being conformed to the image of God or in other words; becoming the archetype.”
I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who loves metal and is becoming like our archetype, Jesus.
Four Classic Hymns out of Five.
Standout Tracks: How Great Thou Art, End of the Age, Ransom, Self Existent.
Jerry Bolton – for The Phantom Tollbooth.
September 22nd, 2009
…the cost of marriage
Feb 4th
Current Tunage: Mutemath – Noticed
Has anyone else noticed the UNCANNY similarity between the start of this song and the start of Starflyer 59’s “No New Kinda Story” (from their record Everybody Makes Mistakes)? Yikes. If it wasn’t twice as fast, it would be far more obvious. I’m hoping it’s just happenstance or imitation, not stealery.
So, I’ve been thinking. Thinking what? Thinking that there’s some things I’ve done following my wedding that I probably would never have done prior (or at very least, would have avoided doing at all costs until there was no other option). I also thought it would be fun to share them, since they’re tongue-in-cheek and light-hearted and so on. Hope you enjoy.
EIGHT THINGS MARRIAGE HAS DONE TO ME (that i am rather pleased with)
1. Get a cell phone, use it daily.
2. Take a men’s multivitamin every day.
3. Do laundry more than once weekly.
4. Listen to less metal. (But still love it with passion!)
5. Listen to more CCM than could be rationally considered healthy. (At least by me!)
6. Go to sleep around 11pm quite regularly. Feel like a mess otherwise.
7. Get up prior to 7am quite regularly. Feel groggy otherwise.
8. Realize that I don’t actually hate Macs, just the elitist snobs who use them. (When they are elitist snobs, which isn’t always the case, but usually is!) My wife uses a Mac but she is not an elitist snob, she is a well-adjusted computer user who understands the intricate balance of benefits and drawbacks to different operating systems and despite this has chosen the greater of two evils.
Those are what come to mind at the moment, I’m sure there’s more. All this is to say that marriage has profound effects upon one’s psyche, general disposition, and well-being (all positive). It can even result in you doing things you should have done just because it was smart. I love my wife. 
…suck it out!
Dec 10th
Title: Suck Out The Poison
Artist: He Is Legend
Label: Solid State Records
Length: 14 Tracks / 57:08
I admit it freely. I was a sucker for He Is Legend’s first two releases, 2004’s 91025 and I Am Hollywood. They were excellent, technical works of well-crafted rock/metal goodness meshed with unique lyrics which broke from the status quo in many quickly discernable ways. Fast, precise, and produced to a blinding sheen – there was and is very little to criticise about their prior records. I make no apologies.
Send a band on tour for 26 months straight and strange things are bound to happen. Perhaps your lead vocalist’s vocal chords will get shot. Maybe the band will begin to favor drop tuning two full steps down. Perhaps even you’ll discover that you don’t even like your own sound. It’s not a stretch to say that the road changes bands. In this case, I believe it’s been for the better – He Is Legend toured for twenty-six straight months on I Am Hollywood. Their newest record, Suck Out The Poison, is the result, in many senses, of that touring. Raw, weary, imbalancing… and yet driven by a renewed energy and passion.
Almost everything I loved musically about He Is Legend is gone on 2006’s Suck Out The Poison. Along with many of their listeners, I shared in the massive, collective “Huh!?” when I first listened through the album. It was unsettling. The meticulous pro-tools production of I Am Hollywood is gone and in its place is a grimy, dirty, darkly choral resonance more akin to a live recording than manicured studio tapings. The band has, from the beginning, stood behind Suck Out The Poison unapoligetically, so it seems to me that this paradigm shift in their approach to recording was very intentional. The technical excellence is still very present, it’s just taken a different form. Where I Am Hollywood brought us crisp but generally quite standard rock/metal, Suck Out The Poison brings us something more akin to Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster – dirty, grungy, heavy southern rock/metal. It’s a very different sounding monster, but I would argue it’s also a very *good* sounding monster.
One constant which has remained is the excellence of lyrics. He Is Legend’s vocalist Schuylar Croom has a gift for penning cleverly woven fairy tales out of the complexities of real, actual lives around him. References to the children’s fantasy stories of Western childhood abound but the content is warped and tailored to suit the trappings and pitfalls of Western adulthood. This juxtaposition is chilling at times, and particularly delightful at others. Ultimately, it allows He Is Legend to deal with some very complex issues and stories in the safety of what comes off as fictional fantasy. It’s all very intricate and well executed, and quite enjoyable to participate in.
The bottom line is this – He Is Legend, anything but content to stay put musically, has gone on an adventure with Suck Out The Poison. A very successful adventure. A quest, if you will, to create an album they love. An album which captures the bleeding-through of Western childhood fantasy and Western adulthood reality. Best of all, an album that sounds like a band that has hit their stride at top gear somewhere in the southern states amidst rattlesnakes, swamps, and big rigs patrolling the desert.
Suck Out The Poison is mythology, magic, and all kinds of clever.
Four venomous bites out of five.
Standout Tracks: Attack of the Dungeon Witch, Suck Out The Poison, China White II, Electronic Throat, (((louds.
Jerry Bolton 10/12/2007