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Beyond the Embrace's third full-length album "Insect Song" immediately strikes me as a unique blend of quite a few different genres, including hardcore, melodic metal, and some more mellow influences as well. Listening through the first time I couldn't help but notice the sometimes uncanny resemblance to more recent Sentenced, such as "Crimson" or "The Cold White Light." To some this might not be such a great thing, but coming from me its a compliment. While I do believe that Sentenced does it better, Beyond the Embrace utilizes a similar style and does so consistently well. The hardcore influence is clear in the album's multiple breakdowns which on occasion feel a little out of place, but never entirely. I do wish that there had been a little less focus on hardcore elements, but I can't judge the album poorly simply because of my dislike for the genre. Besides, there is so much more to this album than a bunch of breakdown and hardcore screams. There are a few weak spots here and there, and it very likely will lose your interest more than once, but if you listen all the way through it, and do so a couple times, you'll begin to appreciate it more and more. The guitar work is pretty good and there's a lot of interesting harmonizations going on with the two lead guitars. The rhythm guitar is a little trite and I feel like they could have been a little more original with the rhythm guitar and drums, especially considering their already widely varied field of influence. But in the end "Insect Song's" positive aspects outshine its vices. The production is fine, and the vocals never switch styles too much to become confusing or frustrating, but they never remain the same for long enough to become annoying either. As I said before, I think that they mixed styles very very well in some songs, but in a few they border too much on a close adherence to typical hardcore. Most metal listeners looking for an interesting album, or some good deathcore (whatever you wanna call it) should definitely give this album a listen. However, if you're a selective death or black metaller, or a speed freak, it's not worth your time.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Fleshengine Breakdown |
| 2. Plague |
| 3. My Fall |
| 4. ...Of Every Strain |
| 5. Redeemer |
| 6. Insect Song |
| 7. Ashes |
| 8. Weak And The Wounded |
| 9. Absent |
| 10. Within |
: 43.22
| Buy other Beyond The Embrace albums |
