As Likely As Not - Stand Up And Nerve
Ignore the odd syntax of As Likely As Not- focus instead on their crushing debut 'Stand Up And Nerve!' This album is as heavy hitting as it gets when it comes to metalcore, and the opening track is a strong beginning. "Designed Love" is a great mix of hardcore, metalcore, and melodic death metal with the way the vocals and instrumentation is constructed. The song hits hard in its chugging manner with plenty of breakdowns, and the screaming vocals don't really do much as far as impression goes, but they sound bettered when layered with the deeper growls. Eventually a rhythm section opens up that sounds a bit like Soilwork and the melodic death bits can be heard and all of a sudden the music sounds much less generic. "Realization" does a similar job at focusing more on breakdowns and instead of just the clunky, chugging guitars and monotone drums trying to keep in time with the flat screams. There's a lot of 'jerking and jarring movement' with the guitar notes and how they tend of jump all over the place, almost technically, before solidly coming back to the chorus. It isn't as strong melodically, but tries as much as possible to stay away from a pitall of repetition.
Not all pitfalls can be avoided, however. "My Last Confession" and "Red Fleer" sound more muddled as the aggression is turned up a notch and even though there is plenty of groove and a crushing, heavy, metal anthem rhythm, at the same time it sounds like about fifty other metalcore bands out there who perform in exactly the same style. Fans might not appreciate how As Likely As Not, who were starting out on a such a high note, suddenly decided to change gears for diversity's sake, and came up a bit short. The screams are more constant without the layered roars/ growls so that's sadly missing. However, there's more variation to the album than just this. "Only Echoes Of Dreams" is an ambient/ industrial track that is very quiet- almost impossible to hear unless one really turns their speakers up. It's more of a strange filler than anything, but acts as a nice pause/ interlude from the chaos. "Inhale Exhale" kicks things back into gear with the melodic death metal bits that made track one so popular. "Nerving Empathy" blends in some more hardcore elements, and finally "Omega" is the strangest bird of all. It takes a while for things to pick up- like thirty seconds- and once things do it sounds like a very metal industrial dance track, chopped, screwed, and remixed with only the screaming vocals as a constant. It's unlike anything fans will have heard at this point from the band, so it'll either entice them or turn them away.
Overall though As Likely As Not have some pretty strong music here with their debut. They tend to waver a bit in the middle but finish strong, if not oddly. Metalcore and melodic death metal fans will enjoy this quite a bit for the guitar bits, and even though the bass and drums sometimes get lost in the mix, there are some sections such as during "Realization" where everything can be heard solidly and with great rhythm. Hopefully these guys will crank out some more quality and even more diverse metal in the future.
Not all pitfalls can be avoided, however. "My Last Confession" and "Red Fleer" sound more muddled as the aggression is turned up a notch and even though there is plenty of groove and a crushing, heavy, metal anthem rhythm, at the same time it sounds like about fifty other metalcore bands out there who perform in exactly the same style. Fans might not appreciate how As Likely As Not, who were starting out on a such a high note, suddenly decided to change gears for diversity's sake, and came up a bit short. The screams are more constant without the layered roars/ growls so that's sadly missing. However, there's more variation to the album than just this. "Only Echoes Of Dreams" is an ambient/ industrial track that is very quiet- almost impossible to hear unless one really turns their speakers up. It's more of a strange filler than anything, but acts as a nice pause/ interlude from the chaos. "Inhale Exhale" kicks things back into gear with the melodic death metal bits that made track one so popular. "Nerving Empathy" blends in some more hardcore elements, and finally "Omega" is the strangest bird of all. It takes a while for things to pick up- like thirty seconds- and once things do it sounds like a very metal industrial dance track, chopped, screwed, and remixed with only the screaming vocals as a constant. It's unlike anything fans will have heard at this point from the band, so it'll either entice them or turn them away.
Overall though As Likely As Not have some pretty strong music here with their debut. They tend to waver a bit in the middle but finish strong, if not oddly. Metalcore and melodic death metal fans will enjoy this quite a bit for the guitar bits, and even though the bass and drums sometimes get lost in the mix, there are some sections such as during "Realization" where everything can be heard solidly and with great rhythm. Hopefully these guys will crank out some more quality and even more diverse metal in the future.
- Designed Love
- Realization
- My Last Confession
- Red Fleer
- Only Echoes Of Dreams
- Inhale Exhale
- Nerving Empathy
- Omega
The Execultion Kollective
Reviewer: Colin McNamara
Mar 2, 2011
Mar 2, 2011
Next review:
As Empires Fall - World Eclipse
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