Rareform

This album caused a great upheaval since the use of screamo vocals along with somewhat commercial riffs, caused a false impression on the critics and not many people lent them attention. They produced the album themselves, which emphasizes their intention to get ahead and whip up us. The band began to grow in the scene with bands like Born of Osiris and As Blood Runs Black, so people begin to relate them in the scene they wanted to unfold with.

I was first linked to After The Burial many years ago. At the time, I was in a very indifferent mood towards all things core, basically hating them for existing no-matter the actual merit of the band. I therefore hated the idea that these core kids were playing 8-string guitars, as I saw it as another gimmick. About 6 months ago, I actually went and listened to After the Burial and all my preconceptions vanished.

After the Burial play a technical and almost progressive form of metal, their 8-string guitars actually being used for sonic diversity, not just added chug. One thing is for certain and that's that these guys can riff. Every song on this album contains some absolutely top notch riffs and the breakdowns are simply crushing. The intro to "Berzerker" is a prime example of what this band is all about. Technical shredding, still done tastefully, while retaining heaviness and groove. The odd time signature changes don't even feel forced and the off time Meshuggah-esque groove never feels like it was done simply to show off.

The vocals are probably the weakest part of this band. While they aren't bad, they're too dry in a lot of sections. He has his moments, the ending breakdown to "Berzerker" comes to mind and most of "Aspiration", but overall the vocals sound too claustrophobic and cramped. As much as I'm loath to recommend it, more reverb in the studio would probably help.

This is a huge step up from After the Burial's previous effort, "Forging a Future Self". The production is tighter, the riffs are stronger and the music itself has benefited from the extra time spent in the industry. After The Burial have really tried to step away from the metalcore mould that is becoming so stale in its autumn years and what the future holds for them will be interesting, to say the least.

Being a relatively new outfit, After the Burial have only two albums at their disposal this far, and while the general concept of the music hasn't changed that drastically in the course of time between them, "Forging a Future Self" was all the things I hate about the "math/deathcore" trend - and while "Rareform" doesn't exactly do the opposite, is still an album that I'd actually recommend to buy.

The ultimate strength of "Rareform" in my opinion lies in it's well performed and compelling - technically and musically - guitar work, which is so dominant that's the rest of the band's outward mediocrity doesn't even come close to spoil the experience. And while the guitarists' technical abilities are a given fact on which I would not elaborate, their musical effort is worth dwelling on. First of all - they take all the common concepts regarding basic riffing and "rhythm/lead guitar" partition and shatter it to pieces. Have you thought that the lower notes on the guitars are only good for power chords and rhythm, the higher notes - for leads and the middle range - for bridging the gap? Not on this one. They go high, they go low, and mostly - they go wide, playing all across the guitar, combining high strings with low - most of the time in the boundaries of a single riff; Now imagine how does it sound on an 8 string guitar - and then check how it's implemented on, say, the title track's opener riff, then you might get why would I go as far as saying "that's how an 8 string guitar must be played".

Another aspect that is hard to be ignored is the sheer amount of influences in AtB's music - starting with the inevitable "Meshuggah parts", through oriental, neo-classical, old school melodic metal and ending on the verge of punk and jazz; AtB's thing for crossing genres and progressive feel was prominent on their previous release as well, but on "Rareform" it is far more well implemented and less abrupt, introducing more fluid passages between different elements - mostly in a course of a single song - without falling out of context. Only a few last words about the aforementioned "Meshuggah parts": apparently AtB decided to let go of the dull pseudo-old-Meshuggah-style palm muted chugging that was so predominant in their previous album as in all of the deathcore trend, and moved to rip off their more recent "Nothing"/"Catch 33" groovy era (the whole song "A Vicious Reforming of Elements" would be a good example). At this stage this experiment leans more towards regurgitation (not good) rather than iteration (good), however they do deserve some credit for pulling that off with credibility and offer something more rhythmically interesting than the damn chuggers - which still reoccur but less often and less annoying.

Yet in all things that are sound and production related, "Rareform" falls quite significantly behind. It just doesn't sound good. It's not totally horrible, you still can hear everything clearly, but I've heard home recordings that sound like - if not better - than this one. First of all - I don't know if they've programmed the drums or played them live on this one, but it certainly DOES sound programmed on a cheap software (this issue is resolved on the reissued version, so might as well go with that if you plan a purchase). However, the more pressing issue here is the total absence of low-end on this album, something's that especially detrimental to the sound of an 8-string guitar (why didn't rip that aspect off "Catch 33"?). It almost seems the album was optimized specifically to not spite the weird folk that prefers to listen to their music on their laptop's built-in speakers.

Overall:
All things considered - especially being part of a long overdone subgenre - After the Burial managed to take off of their first shart of a release and actually craft a solid album that can be enjoyed despite its weaknesses, and at times even displays brinks of originality, a thing I encounter less and less in all of metal these days. So yeah, consider buying if you're a fan of "math-metal" or deathcore, or at least keeping track of it.

[Favorite bits: although sounds like an outtake from Meshuggah's "Catch 33" almost in it's entirety, "A Vicious..." is also as good actually, if not better at times]

Though it's one of the trendiest and most eye-rolling genres out there, the metalcore 'evolution' known as 'deathcore' can often prove surprising when done right. After the Burial are a band from Minnesota who infuse their deathcore with a lot of melodies, it's almost like a hyper melodic death metal with the deathcore breakdowns. This is their second album.

Though the majority of the music here didn't do it for me, there are a few good points. The emotionally charged, melodic groove bridge of "Drifts". The mystifying leads over the groove in "Cursing Akhenaten". The insanely catchy little melodies in "The Fractal Effect". The album has a very crisp sound to it, and the style here should appeal to many fans of modern melodic American death metal, or perhaps the more technical bands like Arsis. There are quite a few Meshuggah-like grooves scattered through the tracks as well. Vocals are a mix of brutal Swedish core grunts and snarl vocals.

Rareform is not a total miss. There is a talent on display here, but for myself the great riffing is only brought low when they break into the more generic grooves. Without these they'd have a pretty sweet melodic death metal record. As it stands, I found much of the album forgettable with the exception of a few choice riffs.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Let me start by saying that the name After The Burial is a complete misnomer for this band. With a band name like After The Burial, you'd probably expect a generic chug-chug breakdown deathcore band. Instead, this is an intensely melodic and technical band with a focus on breakdowns. "Arsis and Meshuggah had a baby" (as quoted from a fellow reviewer) pretty much sums this album up.

The album is chock-full of some deliciously weird and off-beat guitar playing, a good example in "The Fractal Effect" at about 2:50, that may make you scratch your head at times. The bass and guitar both work smoothly together, each intertwining their own respective parts. The vocals are fairly average, more in the hardcore genre with a few high black metal screams to keep things varied. The drums are probably the worst part of the album, the production was clearly lacking in that area, the double bass sounds woefully triggered.

Onto the songs. Each song is fairly similar, but each manages to keep their own separate identities. From the extremely melodic guitar work in "Ometh", to the insanely fast breakdown at the end of "Drifts, this band has something to cover all their bases. This band will keep you guessing, changing from melody to a breakdown in a blink of an eye. The standout tracks are "Drifts", "Ometh", and "Cursing Akenaten".

Overall, this is a fantastic album, something fans of Meshuggah will easily be able to get into. Their is something for every fan of the -core genres in here, from the quick solos and melodies to the bone-shattering breakdowns. If I had to recommend a metalcore band to some who usually listens to other types of metal, this is the band I would recommend.

Minnesota's After the Burial are a perfect example of why not to "judge a book by it's cover". Yes, the name sounds like metalcore garbage, but the musicianship displayed on Rareform proves that a name doesn't account for the music.

Being a fan of Born of Osiris's debut, I heard about After the Burial also being of the new "melodic mathcore" sub-genre. The fact that they play eight string guitars also happened to spark my interest. Just imagine the time signatures and grooves of Meshuggah blended with the melody and technicality of With Passion (without the over usage of sweep picking).

The guitarists in ATB really know how to write quality riffs, which sets them apart from most metalcore bands today. While I despised a lot of bands that overuse breakdowns (cough, Emmure), ATB have some well thought out and creative grooves going on here. For example, the breakdown at the end of "Drifts" goes through 3 time changes in one minute, as well as being difficult to even memorize. The solos/leads on this album actually contribute emotion to a song, rather than pointless shredding. "Ometh" ends with a trade-off that would impress Cephalic Carnage or even Necrophagist.

The drumming on Rareform is incredibly precise (3/4 high-hat for almost the entire durations of "Aspiration" and "A Vicious Reforming of Features"). There have been many rumors of the drums being programmed, and if true, wouldn't come as a surprise. The bass drum is too loud and a bit distracting, though used tastefully and not over doing the "we have a fast drummer" gimmick (Dimmu Borgir, As Blood Runs Black, and Carnifex for example).

As expected with recent extreme music, there is a huge lack of bass guitar.
It's a shame, because a band with this much creativity could excel further with a prominent bassist.

The vocals on Rareform are of mid/high range yelling, nothing new, but not bad in any way. On the opening track "Berzerker", there seems to be some kind of inhaled growl that almost ruins the section, though that’s the only time throughout the album that the vocals are distracting.

The production on Rareform is of high quality, and with stuttering breakdowns and start/stop riffing, it should be. "Aspiration" and "A Vicious Reforming..." have their moments where the cd sounds scratched, and while some see this as "cheating", others see it as adding a cold feeling to the song. The guitar tone reminds me of Necrophagist with actual distortion, with every note coming through clearly and audible.

Be weary though, as After the Burial isn't a melodic death metal band or a trendy deathcore outfit, but more of a metalcore band with flare. I recommend Rareform to anyone with an open mind or a thirst for something new within extreme music.

Standout tracks: Drifts, Cursing Akhenaten, Aspiration, The Fractal Effect, Ometh.

After the Burial's second release. I'm very impressed, having never listened to this band before. The whole album is very technical. My only qualm with the instrumentation is the vocals. They're kind of grating, sort of a mid-range yell, with some lower grunts and screams. The album's songs are mostly melodic riffs, pretty nice shredding solos, some really sweet softer melodies that are my favorite part of the album. There also a lot of breakdowns reminiscent of Meshuggah and Ion Dissonance. Sometimes the songs will have a few too many breakdowns, but they're better than your standard chugga-chugga deathcore breakdown, they at least change chords occasionally and use some pretty cool rhythms.

The guitarists definitely get a workout playing this. Lots of tremolo picking, pedal points, and odd rhythms. I've heard the drummer is actually a drum machine, and if it is, whoever programmed them did a pretty good job. The cymbal production seems thin though, and I don't like the triggered double bass sound either. The actual beats are pretty neat though and so are the fills.

This album is basically technical melodic death metal with Meshuggah breakdowns and some heavier death metal riffing. The vocalist may even be considered to be doing hardcore vocals. But I don't consider this a deathcore album. It's pretty original sounding, if it is. Most metalheads probably won't like this release saying the breakdowns are unnecessary, and sometimes I agree, but I think this band will continue maturing and use the breakdown more effectively and tastefully.

Rareform deserves this score because it’s “deathcore” in rareform. It’s original, even if melodic riffing has been done before, they add their own twist to it. Breakdowns ala Meshuggah have been done before, but not quite like this. The seventh track Ometh, is one of the more original songs I’ve heard in a long time, and my favorite song on the album. There are sometimes, too many breakdowns. Just be wary of that.

If you like Arsis, Meshuggah, Ion Dissonance, The Faceless, Quo Vadis and similar artists, you will like this album.