Society's Plague - The Human Canvas
Society's Plague are a melodic metalcore band from the U.S. After their successful EP, The Mercy Untold, and numerous hit tours with bands such as Disturbed and Killswitch Engage, they were scooped up by Stand And Deliver Records to deliver their debut full length. The Human Canvas is full of infectious melodies, great harsh/ clean vocal mixes, and haunting keyboard arrangements to deliver a piece of metal that is both fresh and exciting. Drawing on influences such as Raunchy, Abagail Williams, and Eyes Set To Kill, the music here is both brutal and beautiful.
The album opens with a quick, very quiet keyboard introduction before launching into "Transcend The Throne." This track offers buzzing breakdowns, plenty of melodic licks, and very well placed vocals. The keyboards are still there, but offer as a support more than a stand out instrument. The vocals are mostly a hardcore shout that can be expected from most metalcore bands these days, but there's also some great clean singing involved as well (Raunchy is the best comparison when it comes to the vocal style). The drums are varied and don't just use either the kick pedal or hammering the skins constantly for one part. The lyrics are also intriguing and enjoyable to listen to as they are well thought out and not just all focused on one type of theme or subject. Other intense tracks that show off the bands heavy side are "Buried In Flames" and "Lies Of The Broken" which channel sheer brutality into well placed melody to create a great balance. The guitars are chuggers, and the keyboards get some great sections in during the solos such as on "Lies of The Broken." The vocals aren't as melodic here, but they drip with vicious intent with each scream.
The Human Canvas also has its share of beautiful tracks too. On tracks such as "The Human Canvas" the guitars are toned down a bit and the keyboards play a more dominant role, along with the cleaner vocals. The guitars are still there, but are there more for melody support than full on crushers. There is an excellent balance here and the keyboards really stand out. Some tracks are only keyboard inclusive such as "In Reverence" which is like the introduction, but much louder and sorrowful. "Mourning Sun" features an almost piano-like introduction and throughout the track the keyboards have a great symphonic feeling to them that go along with the chugging guitars. Plus, the guitars actually change up to individual strings being plucked rather than just distorted chords, and the clean vocals are just fantastic, as they sound a lot more lively and intense than on some of the other tracks. By far one of the best melodic metalcore tracks ever heard in a long time, to end up making Society's Plague one of the best recent metalcore acts of 2010.
The album opens with a quick, very quiet keyboard introduction before launching into "Transcend The Throne." This track offers buzzing breakdowns, plenty of melodic licks, and very well placed vocals. The keyboards are still there, but offer as a support more than a stand out instrument. The vocals are mostly a hardcore shout that can be expected from most metalcore bands these days, but there's also some great clean singing involved as well (Raunchy is the best comparison when it comes to the vocal style). The drums are varied and don't just use either the kick pedal or hammering the skins constantly for one part. The lyrics are also intriguing and enjoyable to listen to as they are well thought out and not just all focused on one type of theme or subject. Other intense tracks that show off the bands heavy side are "Buried In Flames" and "Lies Of The Broken" which channel sheer brutality into well placed melody to create a great balance. The guitars are chuggers, and the keyboards get some great sections in during the solos such as on "Lies of The Broken." The vocals aren't as melodic here, but they drip with vicious intent with each scream.
The Human Canvas also has its share of beautiful tracks too. On tracks such as "The Human Canvas" the guitars are toned down a bit and the keyboards play a more dominant role, along with the cleaner vocals. The guitars are still there, but are there more for melody support than full on crushers. There is an excellent balance here and the keyboards really stand out. Some tracks are only keyboard inclusive such as "In Reverence" which is like the introduction, but much louder and sorrowful. "Mourning Sun" features an almost piano-like introduction and throughout the track the keyboards have a great symphonic feeling to them that go along with the chugging guitars. Plus, the guitars actually change up to individual strings being plucked rather than just distorted chords, and the clean vocals are just fantastic, as they sound a lot more lively and intense than on some of the other tracks. By far one of the best melodic metalcore tracks ever heard in a long time, to end up making Society's Plague one of the best recent metalcore acts of 2010.
- Awakening
- Transcend The Throne
- Refuge In Silence
- The Human, The Canvas
- Buried In Flames
- Reverence
- Legions
- A Better View On A Bitter World
- The Few And The Fallen
- Lies Of The Broken
- The Masquerade
- Mourning Sun
Stand And Deliver Records
Reviewer: Colin McNamara
Jun 10, 2010
Jun 10, 2010
Next review:
Jewish Juice - Soaring Above Death
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