I

As recording and compositional software continues to improve in both ease of use and seamless emulation, more and more bands have jumped onto the "orchestral" bandwagon, knowing full well that grandiloquent synth backings in the vein of Nightwish's Once are within feasible reach for nearly any group. As a result of this paradigm, a number of heavier acts in the vein of Meshuggah have oozed out of the desiccating woodwork, trying to fabricate the unmalleable by merging progressive, stop-start riffing patterns with eloquent keyboard textures.

Despite the atonal nature of this style yielding virtually no cohesive traits regarding the orchestral slant, some bands such as Mechina have proven that there is potential if the concept is delivered with some semblance of balance and restraint. Xerath, on the other hand, come off as completely aimless and pretentious. Akin to Lou Reed's incomprehensible vocals set next to Metallica's churning rhythm backbone on Lulu, the orchestral and metal elements of I clash for nearly the entire duration. It almost comes off like Xerath proper is performing in a room completely separate from the orchestra, and never the twain shall meet.

Regarding Xerath's heavier disposition, the riffs are telegraphed courtesy of a dessicated, parched tone that only serves to accentuate the vacuous inanity of groove metal. The most animated the leads ever get is during select passages of "Alterra", at which point eight entire songs remain with virtually nothing else of marked value to say. The distortion churns and festers as opposed to exhibiting the vibrant bounciness that a good groove can lend to compositions. Other than some great esoteric melodies and Omnium Gatherum-esque ambiance summoned during "Reform Part II", I's only hope remains lodged within the confines of the keyboards.

Keyboards that admittedly frustrate more than they disappoint. Even being programmed, they are composed with a relative measure of care; but just like the riffs, they are shoehorned into an amalgam that doesn't play to their strengths. While bands like Skyfire can seamlessly integrate programmed swells of orchestration with eclectic songwriting, Xerath appears to have written the keyboard sections first, and then attempted to trace the metal riffs over their faint outline. As a result, the duo of Phillips and Williams find themselves unnaturally boxed in and forced to cut corners far more often than needed. In fact, the vehement, clangy bass tone is in hindsight much more interesting and animated than the six-strings themselves, embodying perhaps the only highlight in an otherwise sordid affair.

While even Meshuggah can boast a competent and creative percussionist in Tomas Haake, Xerath's Pitman is just sort of there to fill a void. Why not program the drums as well? At least that would maintain some level of sterile consistency, although Pitman is arguably more animated than a simple metronome. Other than the occasional female vocal contribution (which should have been utilized much more), all we are left with is Thomson's sepulchral bellowing. His delivery is in that abrasive, half-shout style that is traditionally attributed to band's of Xerath's haughty caliber, so they hit that nail on the head at least.

I isn't even fit to serve as background music, as the droning orchestrations' somber overtones constantly drain the riffs of their primal delivery. No matter how earnestly the guitars attempt to craft a driving velocity, the rest of the band is almost always functioning on a totally separate wavelength, yielding to the stylistic confusion even more. Any music with a convincing orchestral slant interests me, and I can even appreciate a decent grooving riff, but Xerath boasts nothing of the sort in I's case.

Held as one of the most acclaimed metal debuts in 2009, Xerath comes onto the scene with a fairly exciting sound. Although the djent, Meshuggah-laden sound that Xerath plays was already well trodden by the time this album was released, Xerath adds something new and exciting to it; an orchestral, symphonic backing. It comes as no surprise then, that Xerath holds a very epic sound to them. Xerath has a very professional sound to them, even this early on, and while I found myself very disappointed by their sophomore, Xerath shows alot of potential with this impressive first album.

When describing their sound, I hear the powerful chugging grooves of bands like Gojira and Meshuggah, along with the thrashy grandeur of Strapping Young Lad. On top of that, there is this orchestral sound that follows the metal instruments throughout this album, adding plenty of depth to the sound, although it rarely ever takes a forefront in Xerath's music. Speaking of the band's metal sound, it is heavy and oftimes technical, with plenty of chuggy riffs to make up the meat of the band's sound. The vocals here are growled and screamed, like a less melodic Joe Duplantier (of Gojira). The riffs and instrumentation are focused more on rhythm than melody, although the orchestral element adds a slightly more melodic and harmonious edge. True enough, there are plenty of riffs here that get my head banging, although overall, I find that there could have been some extra melodies or more memorable moments around the album to grasp onto. As it stands, Xerath's 'I' sounds more or less the same all throughout, with the obvious 'Interlude' exception being composed only of the symphonic element.

As far as orchestral sounds go in metal, much of it does pass me as being a gimmick, attempting to get the depth of a symphony, without the effort of a complex arrangement. I experienced that disappointment on the band's second album 'II', but in retrospect, 'I' actually has some very complimentary orchestral elements. It would be somewhat boring without the metal elements, but there is an authentic sound to the symphonic elements, and they have a great effect for the atmosphere. Taking Xerath's music from the orchestral angle, it sounds alot like the incidental music for some science fiction epic soundtrack.

Xerath has made a very professional sounding album here, and at a perfect length for this sort of music, it never gets boring. I would have liked some more variety and a sense of surprise in music like this, as Xerath never changes lanes from the first song to last. They do however have a great grasp of their style on this album, and clever enough to bring something new to the table, this is a band that stands on their own two feet in the crowded djent community.

I found Xerath a long time ago, when they were an unsigned band looking for a label on which to release “I”. I listened to some sample tracks on their website and was absolutely blown away by their self-described “chug-score” style. Bands are beginning to venture into the more symphonic realms of extreme metal (outside the vein of black metal). Eternal Tears of Sorrow comes to mind when I think along these lines. Xerath, however, does something different with their symphonic touch: they infuse the influence of tech death bands like Meshuggah. As a fan of both symphonic metal and tech death, blending these two together instantly caught my attention. Xerath is not built around a gimmick, but instead an explorative concept trying to find ground between two genres that have almost refused to reconcile their differences and produce music that is rather far out there.

Truth be told, what first grabbed me was the riffing on this album. Nothing particularly inventive, but well executed and catchy all the same, while still retaining the tech death feel. They keep a consistent beat throughout “I”, and the riffs drive the music along. In particular, the bass beat on the song Nocturnum caught my ear. When combined with the operatic clean vocals and symphonic elements, and later acoustic guitar, this made for a song that brought out of me a new appreciation for the intricacies of the music Xerath makes. Extending that idea, the main thing that makes these things work is that they interact well with the symphonic elements of Xerath, and help to create the contrasting aesthetic that allows Xerath to be unique.

The symphonic elements are truly what make Xerath unique. The choirs, woodwinds and strings add the extra layer present in symphonic metal that gives it the complexity that I enjoy. What makes it stick out on “I” is the fact that the classical instrumentations are layered on top of an already complex, rhythmically shifting, driving base. There is a downside to the scores layered on top: they sound far too MIDI to be believable. I have not been able to find “II”, but I hope Xerath invested in a better MIDI package than the one use on “I”. This would bring the music much closer to the par set by the more heavyweight symphonic bands (recent Nightwish disregarded since they record with an orchestra now).

In summary, Xerath offers an intriguing debut that brings a new perspective on the tech death side of extreme metal. The well-executed riffs interact well with the unique scores to create a refreshing take on metal that is always pleasing to the ears. With a better MIDI package, Xerath could be even better than they are now.

There’s a specific beauty to progressive rock/metal…you can basically do whatever the hell you want, within good musical taste, and can drape that ever-so-billowy blanket term over it should you require stylistic pigeon-holing. Anything more alien than that could take you into the maddening “avant-garde” realm, which is even harder to perfect. Then again, with such beauty no middle ground exists; you either exude brilliance or annoy the ever-loving fuck out of what listeners are around to partake, with no easy way to straddle that fine line. The trick is to know where your limits are in your particular genre…overdoing it could very well stretch thin both your material and the patience of those around you

And with that said, I sat back and let the possible potential of XERATH wash over me…

When it comes to this “I” album, this listener can sense that potential existing in the strangeness that emanates from the album. I would honestly consider this “progressive” due to their rather schizophrenic arrangements and unnatural selections, despite their somewhat modernistic meat and potatoes approach to the style. The potent dramatics of the symphonic keyboards and some of the guitar riffs exist, painting an intensely dark image on their musical canvas that could very well cause the more proggy of us to salivate most impurely. The quieter moments the songs possess are prime examples of grabbing your ears and gently forcing you to listen and enjoy what XERATH has to offer, showcased by the epic feel of the performance and arrangements. However, its previously mentioned modern feel is the anchor weighing that potential down, at least, from what I see, er, hear…much of the heavier material is repetitive in nature, pushing two-bar movements damn-near to oblivion, made all the more worse during the quite unnecessary and unnaturally placed metalcore-ish, breakdown moments; the chunky riffing, decent-but-a-bit-too-heavy drumming and the unbecoming growling/screaming vocals shatter the precious ear-candy approach the keyboards and clean guitars are trying so hard to bring to life. I’ve not heard an album as confused and conflicting as this in some time…seems like part of it wants to project an artistic image, while another part wants to beat the shit out of the listener via slam dancing in the mosh pit. I can’t say this would end up being something I’d subject myself to on a daily basis, despite the fanciful feel of the good tracks like “Intensity”, “Interlude”, and the more melodic parts of “False History”, while the bothersomeness of the boot-to-the-skull approach of songs like “Consequences” and “Reform part I” makes the whole thing a confounding affair. There’s a part of me that REALLY wants to like what they’re trying to sell me, but upon first listen I just didn’t get it completely. Maybe a few more spins may change my mind.

In the end I’m still not sure what to think with XERATH’s latest. There really are some great ideas present in the symphonic arrangements and certain riffs, but it’s taxing to get into it all when one has to cut through the dreck the rest of the album has to offer. I’ll get back to you on this one.

I like music when it's taken to an extreme. I've grown to like damn near everything that metal has to offer purely because I'm in love with the concept of extremes. Over the years, I've warmed up to my former punching bag in drone. I've grown to see the appeal of insanely raw black metal and ridiculous goregrind. Everything from the stupidly over-the-top (Dragonforce) to the most dismally downtempo (Wormphlegm) has entered my regular listening cycles because of the fact that the bands in question had the balls to push their music to the extreme. Hell, a large portion of what I listen to isn't extreme at all, but the point I'm trying to make is that I'm more likely to enjoy a mediocre yet enthusiastic black/thrash band than a mediocre yet creative band in a safe genre. And this is where Xerath enters the picture.

Xerath garnered a large following due to word of mouth and likeness to Meshuggah back last year. Something about the "orchestral" prefix really piqued my curiosity when I first heard about the band, and the sad fact is that the term should be used in quotation marks no matter what the context. Meshuggah got lucky, their trademark style is incredibly simple in essence (two or three note riffs played in a complicated time signature with no progression and mindless yelling over the top), but it's one that's inimitable because nobody can try to tackle a similar approach without being egged by all the Meshuggah fans for being shameless clones. Xerath was capable of emulating this style, and even improving it by putting in more than three riffs per song plus a few short solos with an actual sense of melody, but couldn't really take off due to the aforementioned issue with playing the style. So they decided to pull what Winds of Plague did, and just add keyboards. Xerath were guaranteed popularity purely because they managed to sound like Meshuggah with one key difference. The same problem that the aforementioned deathcore abomination suffered from is just as prevalent here, and that's that the keys typically don't actually do anything. They layer over the top of songs that sound like they were written without the synths in mind. They play root chords and fade away, nothing more. There's nothing more frustrating to me than hearing a band that actually has potential and an interesting idea end up sucking because they can't get out of the rut they started in.

None of the songs on I stand out thanks to yet another inherited trait in the indistinguishability. I hate to keep comparing the band to Meshuggah, but this is darn near the only influence I can pick out within the actual meat of the disc. Every issue I have with the Swedish faux-progsters is reciprocated with this British counterpart. The riffs are uninteresting chugfests, the vocals are a tuneless and unvarying shout, the percussion manages to be complex yet profoundly boring, and nearly nothing sticks in your head after repeated listens. The one and only time I ever said "wow, that part was actually pretty fucking cool" was during the very last track, "Right to Exist". The variances in the riffing are less subtle and more interesting in that song, plus the guitars finally take a back seat to a worthy symphonic part for the first time on the record. Oh sure, there are extended breaks throughout the album, but the orchestrations are pedestrian and weak during all but this last one. I'll also mention the track "Alterra", purely because I actually sense a strong Pantera vibe in the front half as opposed to that dirty "M" word for the first and only time.

Honestly, I'd recommend this only to fans of Meshuggah or any of those proggy types who value difficulty to play over memorability or songwriting. If you're interested because of the supposed epic orchestrations like I was, look elsewhere. The promises of polyrhythmic chunk melded seamlessly with emotional symphonics are empty promises indeed. You'll be just as well off with playing Chaossphere loudly and In Sorte Diaboli quietly in the background.

I've been following Xerath for a long time now, from their humble origins, to them getting signed to Candlelight, and them now releasing their first full length album. Obviously for me as a long-time stakeholder, I was very eager to hear what their full length release was like; I even abstained from listening to the Terrorizer stream of the album so that I could listen to it in higher quality later.

And my verdict is: they do not disappoint.
The best way to imagine Xerath's music is to take the scores to your favourite big screen movie epics, then somehow mix them with the low-end odd time signature grooves of Meshuggah and somehow have it work with it sounding highly professional and unforced, as if the orchestration was supposed to be there all along. The result is something which will pound you into dust with its unrelenting bottom end heaviness, while simultaneously instilling a sense of genuine awe that only the nuances and grandiosity of an orchestra could. Choirs, strings, horn sections and more caress your eardrums, effortlessly working with the guitars; each supporting and interplaying with the other to create a challenging cerebral whole which is simultaneously primitively brutal and sweepingly epic.
Although this band takes their main inspiration from Meshuggah, this is far from the mechanical machinelike fury of their Swedish muse, as the songs on display here are rich, textured musical landscapes which you could just as easily sit back to and immerse yourself in as you could rock out to them.

One of my favourite moments from this album is indeed the introduction, wherein delicate quivering strings introduce the musical theme, only to later be accompianed by an enormous chugging guitar riff which interlocks with the orchestration and works as an organic whole, clearly stating the album's purpose and the band's full power. Other highlights include the breakdown in "Nocturnum", resplendent with acoustic guitar, female vocals, choirs and the sound of rain; the stuttering opening riff and massive chorus in "False History"; the Earth-shattering chug riff which ushers in "Abiogenesis" and its triumphant climax, and the ominous two-parter "Reform".
So far throughout this review I have had to be very careful in regulating my usage of the word "massive", because really there isn't really any other way to describe this. Everything about it sounds like a massive wall of bombastic emotive sound inducing eargasm after colossal monolothic eargasm.

As players they pull off some impressive guitar wizardry in the form of rhythmic acrobatics by Williams and Phillips on guitars, and Pitman on the drums, but there is some interesting lead work here and there as well, especially a rather agreeable solo in the song "False History". Thompson is a more than competent as a vocalist; as he howls and shrieks and growls and is generally angry throughout. There is a lot more expression in his voice than a lot of non-clean metal vocalists without sounding like a yelping -core singer, striking a good balance between sounding agressive and sounding varied and interesting without coming off as annoying.

Overall, my favourite metal release so far in 2009. I expect great things from this band in the future. If this is just them getting started, I cannot wait for they have in store for us on the next album. Bring on Xerath II!