By John Bedard
I love it when from the first moments of the first track of an album you know it is going to be fun. ‘Judgement’ starts out strong and instantly grabs my attention. I am going to laser focus in on the first track, ‘Statement’, for a moment. From start to finish there is this strong evolution from heavier segments to softer segments with that contrast I have come to love in melodic death metal. The music tells as much of a story as the vocals. The really good news is that it is not just the first track, but this is carried throughout the whole album. Making the album an experience rather than just something to listen to.
Like I was saying above, the music has a wonderful evolution. There are these huge swings in and out of heavily melodic styles contrasting more traditional metal arrangements giving each track a very unique and enjoyable experience. These large shifts in style are also not abrupt. Rather, they have very well done transitions making the evolution feel very natural and making the overall experience feel very complete and very thought out. On top of all this, some real-time was put into the mix. Nothing feels like it is drowned out or too far forward at any time. Each instrument is perfectly balanced against each other only cutting above the others when they need to. A lot of albums get this wrong. These guys hit the nail right on the head.
If you thought I was gushing about the music buckle up, because the vocals were just as stand out fantastic. Usually, I don’t get to say that the vocals have the same large contrasts and evolution as the instrumentation but here we have it all. Everything from the typical heavy growled tone we expect in death metal to a shouted rock or heavy punk style tone all the way to, occasionally, a dark clean sound that all manage to complement each other perfectly to make for a great experience. I have absolutely nothing to complain about.
If you can’t tell, I really liked this album. If you have read any of my reviews you might have picked up on that when I find an album really interesting or standout, I start calling it an experience. This is because has transcended beyond something you just listen to but rather something that is in and of itself an experience. TerraDown’s ‘Judgement’ is definitely an experience and it is a great one! You owe it to yourself to give this one a shot. You won’t regret it.
- ‘Judgement’ is out now. You can get your copy, and other TerraDown goodies, HERE.
www.facebook.com/TerraDownOfficial
- All content © Über Rock. Not to be reproduced in part or in whole without the express written permission of Über Rock.