Year: 2022
Total Time: 60:00
Label: Metal Blade
Just like MASTODON with “Hushed and Grim”, ALLEGAEON’s new album is also inspired by the death of loved ones. Hence the name of their new effort “DAMNUM” which means loss in Latin.
ALLEGAEON, for those who do not know, play a mix of melodic Death Metal and Tech Death with several modern influences that in places could even be called Deathcore.
For anyone who follows the band, they shouldn’t be surprised by the more Progressive Metal direction in their new record. It was a little inevitable we could say, when in the last few years, the only covers that the Americans have done are songs by the gods of Prog Rock RUSH and YES.
In DAMNUM you will of course meet all the characteristics of the ALLEGAEON sound such as the fast tempos with the blast beats on the drums, the acoustic passages, the “Swedish” riffs and of course the melodic guitar solos by the very talented axeman Greg Burgess. You will also encounter many new elements as well with Riley McShane’s vocals being one of the highlights of the album. In addition to making quite a lot of use of his cleans, he has expanded his range of brutal vocals, adding low gutturals and some more in the vein of black/death metal too. Unfortunately, the use of effects in his voice is evident and this is something that personally did not appreciate.
Music wise now, the band has incorporated very nicely its progressive influences but sadly it has done so very restrainedly. For example, the beginning of “Vermin” which could have been taken out of the good times of FATES WARNING is simply excellent – a right prog feast. In “Of Beasts and Worms” an acoustic guitar combined with some discreet keyboards will bring to mind the latest OPETH while in “Dopamine Pt II” McShane’s cleans borrow a bit from the melancholy of Jonas Renske with Brandon Michael’s bass playing some insanely good lines in the background.
“Called Home” is one of the best compositions of the album, in which ALLEGAEON enter the fields of Post Death Metal as brought to us last year by KARDASHEV. A very dark piece, quite slow for the band, where McShane channels his inner Michael Akerfedlt thus showing his love for the Swedish gods of Prog/Death metal.
In the second part of “The Dopamine Void”, apart from an excellent bassline there are some extremely fast Death Metal vocals where McShane sings his lyrics in a way that’s reminiscent of rap. It is quite impressive!
The album will reach its end with the band invoking the madness of STRAPPING YOUNG LAD in “Only Loss”. With the vocals ranging from melodic cleans to guttural, the track uses very efficiently blast beats, complex parts with melodies and epic choruses in a semi-paranoid Devin Townsend fashion, thus creating a very special finale.
ALLEGAEON took the right next step in their career, expanding their sound with the use of more melodies, clean vocals and Prog Metal influences. All the new elements added by the band benefited their compositions, as they seem to have more air to breathe more now and are less overloaded than in the past. I continue though to find the identity of the group without a distinct flavour or a strong personal element, and many parts in their songs strongly reminiscent of other groups. Many riffs are generic while the continuous blast beats and guitar solos tire a little in places. And the same applies to the processed vocals too. I believe that if the Americans work on creating a more personal sound, leave the excesses of the genre behind and incorporate more classic Prog Rock/Metal elements into their Death Metal, we will have some really unique results in the future.
Rating: 7.5/10
Editor: Dimitris Benetatos
Related Link: ALLEGAEON – Official Page
