Duncan Patterson – Grace Road (2022)

I have never written a review of an album I helped make before, but seeing that my contributions were minimal, I still feel able to write this without my personal bias getting in the way. In fact, my love for Duncan Patterson’s music is the bias we should be more worried about.

Duncan Patterson may be most famous for his early work with the band Anathema, but has artistically (I believe) chosen to remove himself from projects when they start to take a life of their own. Maybe he’s in constant search of artistic freedom. Maybe he just gets bored. Either way, Antimatter (which is now under the careful watch of Mick Moss) and Alternative 4 (the band named after the Anathema album he spearheaded) have put out their own masterpieces of goth meets doom meets classical meets movie soundtrack.

My contributions to this album were working with my drummer Fernando Guerrero and our friend Alicia Mitchell in recording background vocals to compliment the already amazing Enas Al Said (female vocals) as well as Duncan himself. We were given just the parts we needed to add, which seemed like self contained songs as they were. But hearing them in the context of the full tracks with all parts put together was a fascinating and rewarding experience.

The album itself is a short one. Just 5 tracks, a total of 34 minutes long. And the music is very easy going. It doesn’t demand much from the listener, but to get lost in its ethereal sound. “Absolut Absolutum” starts off by building up with a choir like sound for over a minute before abruptly cutting off. The main piano theme comes in, later joined by frail female vocals (Enas). About 5 minutes in, Duncan’s background vocals come in slowly and help introduce the drums, which carries the tune the rest of the way alongside Alicia’s voice, whose delicate touch sounds more like a violin. There are only 8 lines of lyrics, but Enas conveys them with emotion, and the song leaves plenty of space in between lines for the message to come across.

“The Quiet Light” is the longest track on the album, at 10 minutes. As opposed to the spacious classical feeling of the first track, this feels more like a ballad from the get go. The piano is the driving feature with sparse orchestral flourishes and Duncan vocals filling in the powerful performance by Enas. A flute like instrument carries the piece into its next section, which is a hypnotic but still ambient trip hop section. The dub style drums and repeated piano melody unexpectedly drop out for a haunting back and forth between voice, strings, keyboards, before Enas repeats the phrase “calling me home” over it. This builds until the ending of the track.

“Walking Between Worlds” might be my personal favorite off the record. This song has a strong Celtic influence, starting with the excellent drum beat and use of reverb on the drums and vocals. Enas loses a bit of her Middle Eastern tonal qualities as she instead channels her Sinead O’ Conner or Dolores from The Cranberries. The driving rhythm is broken up with a very moody back and forth between Enas and Alicia’s vocals, acting as the chorus. The flute comes back in the middle along with some drawn out chords and notes. It is a section that reminds me of old school Prog such as Genesis, Moody Blues, or Camel.

“The Amber Line” is the song that is most reminiscent to Duncan’s work in Anathema and Antimatter. A guitar driven track with a dark melody and a duo throughout from Duncan and Enas. I love how their vocals pair and build together throughout the piece. It has a stronger emphasis on the lyrics, as previous tracks had words that fluttered around. This one’s are precise and upfront. The layering and effects are fantastic, and the second half is a dark yet beautiful test of patience as the guitar melody repeats and the vocals come in and out of the track.

The last song is also the title track. “Grace Road” is a 5 minute instrumental that is a somber way to part with the record. Starting with just piano, the strings come in a minute later, and then choir like vocals after that. It continues to build in this way, sounding like something straight out of The Lord of the Rings, till it comes to its final note.

Each of these songs provides something special to the album, making the whole experience cohesive, relaxing, and introspective. It should be no surprise at this stage in his career that Duncan knows how to compose, but at this stage, he has found a wonderful balance between his family time to become self reliant, and release gorgeous pieces of music on his own, with the help of a few friends. It is a fantastic release, and I am proud to have contributed even a small amount to it. To listen, you can go to his bandcamp or message me (comment below) for free download codes!

Between the Buried and Me – Colors II

Between the Buried and Me (BTBAM) released Colors in 2007, an album that would change my life and the way I thought about music. It also changed a lot for the band, helping them away from the metalcore scene they were forged in, to opening slots in Amphitheaters with the likes of Dream Theater and Opeth. Those who were brave enough to get past their long name knew of their progressive tendencies, and on this album, it was on full force, like nothing before it, and in my mind since it.

My love for that albums lies in its balance. Balance between heavy and soft sections. Balance between knowing when to take itself seriously and knowing when to surprise its audience. Balance on knowing how long to stay on a riff or a grove. Balance in its transitions. Perfect balance in its 8 unique and equally important parts, that flow through as one. A balance, that I search for in all albums, but is very rare to find.

So when BTBAM announce a sequel to this album, I don’t take it lightly. This album has a lot of weight on its shoulders, and I don’t want a quick and easy cash grab.

The first single “Fix the Error” immediately left a bad taste in my mouth, aside from some Colors like arpeggios and some drum solos (that I did not yet know were 4 different drummers). It was quirky. It was punk like. And it had a vocal part that continues to grind at me after many listens.

Not at all what I think of when I think of Colors.

“Revolution in Limbo” was the next single, and this one blew me away. It sounded like old BTBAM. As if I could have been on the original Colors album. With brief moments that sounded like Alaska as well as ones that could have been on The Great Misdirect. The balance was back. Metalcore riffs, sweeping guitar licks, transitions that made sense, a confidence in its sense of melody, and a 9 minute runtime that just flew by.

Now I was confused. And the next single didn’t help me out either! A keyboard driven proggy/funky, technical death metal song that sounded more like the bands BTBAM inspired rather than themselves. Something that could have been done by The Contortionist or White Arms of Athena, while still fitting right at home on a Tommy (vocalist) solo record. Now I have three very different songs and no clue, how it all comes together.

On my first listen to the whole album, I’ll be honest. I didn’t think it did. It felt like a bunch of different eras of BTBAM all fighting for seniority. I knew there were good moments and songs, but was ready to write a review about how the balance and melodies were severally lacking.

And then I listened to it some more.

And this long overwhelming album started making sense. Not only that, but it was flying by. And just because it didn’t have the same kind of standout melodies that the first Colors had, didn’t mean it didn’t have flow.

Flow became the word of the album, because I hadn’t realized until that point how much the flow was lacking on Automata and Coma Ecliptic. I’m not saying BTBAM forgot how to write an album. They’re obviously masters of that. But it wasn’t just songs connected by lyrics anymore. Musically, this album was making sense.

From the soft intro of “Monochrome” that we know to expect from them (starting with “Foam Born (A)” from Colors, to the subtle hints and similarities of “The Double Helix of Extinction” to “Foam Born B”. This song snd “Revolution in Limbo” are a ferocious double punch with drumming and guitar chugging that feels like an old friend returning, even though they’ve made a career out of it. Soon you start hearing references to all kinds of BTBAM songs. Is the drumming a reference to “Ants of the Sky”? The vocals a reference to “Lay Your Ghosts to Rest”? The melodic lines a reference to “Informal Gluttony” or “Extremophile Elite”? You start to wonder if they were intended or not. Standouts of the song are the growls (curtesy of drummer Blake), and Ants of the Sky saloon reference.

In the context of the record, “Fix the Error” comes at a perfect spot. Now that they’ve reintroduced the modern life and isolation themes of the first album, the theme of upbringing and revolution makes more sense. It truly becomes a time to celebrate (though I still hate the “if you see the rainbow” part).

“Never Seen/Future Shock” is an 11 minute epic with “Telos” like riffs, melodies, random medical sounding sections, but it also demonstrates something on this album. Not only their confidence, but their sense of fun is really blending so well here. Maybe cause they could reference themselves so much, or maybe cause the songwriting came more naturally. But these long songs with twists and turns don’t feel like they’re dragging on. Even after a section with crazy timing, it pays off with about 4 minutes of beauty.

“Stare into the Abyss” is a keyboard driven electronic track that we’ve come to expect from them, but it provides necessary breathing room and has a post-rock climax. This before the chaos of “Prehistory”, with its video game/cartoon sounds. It follows in the footsteps of “Bloom”, “Voice of Trespass”, and “The Ectopic Stroll”, for the fun section of the album.

If the first half of the album showed they could still pull up their older and heavier style at will, this second half shows their arsenal of tricks aren’t just gimmicks, and the transitions are phenomenal. “Bad Habits” is one of the most interesting tracks in my opinion because it’s got a strong old school Prog vibe. Hints of King Crimson, Genesis, even Gentle Giant scattered throughout their aggressive delivery. From the keyboard tones, jazz, folk, and classical, it is definitely a Dan (bassist) song, it brings out the best in Tommy, especially with its emotional delivery of lyrics like the return of “sleep on, fly on” from “Ants of the Sky”.

Then comes the aforementioned “The Future is Behind Us” which sounds so fun and welcoming in comparison, before moving on to “Turbulent”, which actually doesn’t live up to its name. In actuality, it is another moment of simplistic electronic keyboard parts, continuing what the previous track started while making references to other songs, bringing different ideas together. It just lets you get to the music while building up for what is to come. But before they do that, they actually drop out for a bit with “Sfumato”.

Like “Viridian” before it, the band provides breathing room before the epic closing track. It introduces what will be a main theme on the keyboard while giving off serious David Gilmour vibes, which you can never have enough off. This just leaves…

“Human is Hell”, which acts as the “White Walls” of the album. Starts off similar with a driving riff they actually borrow from The Great Misdirect. It follows a similar trajectory as “White Walls” but not without its surprises! The title of the song is said in a part that reminds me of “Digging the Graves” by The Faceless. The first few minutes are almost punishing in how heavy it comes off, and then the melodic chorus comes out of nowhere, almost bittersweet.

It’s impossible to say everything that happens in the song, let alone all the references. Halfway through the melodic melody from “Sfumato” comes back and introduces an extended soft section with beautiful lyrics, melodies, and solos. Then a familiar chord progression leads to a keyboard build up, similar to build ups we’ve seen in their epics before. You can already imagine the audience getting pumped up at this part for the big finish.

After a “Swim to the Moon” nod, a “Prequel to the Sequel” like breakdown, and mini drum solo, we have a brief soft part, before the final chorus. Once this ends, we have the brief major key guitar solo like seen on “Goodby to Everything (Reprise) and “The Grid”. This gives it a classical finale ending, as opposed the sorrowful one of “White Walls”. This is one of my few gripes because it feels like band is relying on it too much, but it is a short gripe for such a triumphant album.

It is so hard to condense writing about this long album with all its references, all it twists and turns, all its technicality, and all its musical sensibility. I fear this review might already be as long as the album itself. But to try and summarize, for someone who was so worried about a sequel to something they loved so much, it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. Then again, how do you expect a sequel to something that was so unexpected in the first place. But the band passed the test with flying colors, finding a confident way to pick and choose the best parts of their career without completely redoing it.

BTBAM has always had the unique ability of sounding like everyone other band and yet only like themselves at the same time. There wasn’t much they needed to prove to their fans at this point, but their impressive talent to continue challenging themselves while playing some of the most challenging music out there is nothing short of inspiring.

White Arms of Athena – White Arms of Athena

– 8/10

– White Arms of Athena did an impressive job making a name for themselves with their first album Astrodrama in 2011. They were praised for their style similar to bands like Between the Buried and Me, Last Chance to Reason, and The Contortionist. They return 3 years later with their follow up, and self-titled album. When songs got released from this album, it was clear that there was a big style change. The overall tone is a lot lighter. The album is mostly sung with slight moments of screams, the complete opposite of the first album. Also, in exchange of the complex transitions and changes from double bass fills and complex guitar parts to soft jazzy guitar moments and clean vocals, this album has a less frantic pace. It doesn’t focus on changes as much as building up and creating an atmosphere. One reason for this (in addition to the band wanting to head in this direction) is the change of producers. The first album was produced by Jamie King, who is known for his work with BTBAM and LCTR. This album is produced by guys who are known for their work with Converge, Baroness, Every Time I Die, and The Dillinger Escape Plan (including the legendary Kurt Ballou). These kinds of bands can be seen in this music. Instead of the crunchy complex riffs, we hear that classic Converge style in the frantic guitar hits to the sludgy guitar chords that are just rung out to create drone. We hear experimental guitar sounds at the beginning of the album’s centerpiece “This Transition” which is 11 minutes long. We hear dissonance in the melody lines in songs like “Heavy Sleep” and “On the Edge” and less in the instruments. In fact, the albums starts with 2 minutes of just vocals layered over each other. It definitely has a crunchier tone, very similar to what Intronaut has behind their beautifully executed vocal harmonies. Towards the end of the album we have “Participating in and Awakening to the Cycle”, which is just two minutes of ambient post rock to build up the last song on the album, which is “The ‘I'”. This song picks up from the previous song and builds up on the post rock even more, including riffs that sound like the band Pelican. The album is short, at just 38 minutes, and the new sound may isolate the fans who wanted this band to continue in that Progressive Metalcore path (I was really surprised that this album seemed to just fly under the radar and think it is because the drastic change in sound), but I personally enjoy the fact that this band tried something new. I think the song writing can become more solid and think that the clean vocals have room to grow stronger, but still think that this is a very solid album and see lots of potential for this talented band.