There’s nothing that the mainstream press like to tout more regularly than the so-called “difficult second album syndrome”. In truth far fewer bands than you may believe actually struggle to create impressive follow ups to their debut work and here, despite having more reason than most to feel a certain amount of pressure, it is clear that British metal crew, The eyes of a traitor, suffered from no such problems.
Opening with the militaristic thud of ‘prologue’ the band unleash a positive torrent of noise upon ‘The birth’ which sees the band weld the brutality of Lamb of God to an almost Meshuggah-like groove to devastating effect. The vocals are rage-filled and reminiscent of the much-missed Pulkas with a dash of hardcore thrown in for good measure. Meanwhile Stephen Whitworth and Matthew Pugh’s guitars veer between chunky, neck-snapping grooves and melodic flourishes which add depth to the tunes. ‘Come to my senses’ is similarly enraged but faster approaching a dizzying speed that comes crushing down to the monumental chorus which sees the drummer pounding his cymbals into so much metallic dust – great stuff and a highlight of the album. ‘The real you’ has an almost thrash feel to it, with complex drum patterns underscoring the brain crushing guitars as if Dillinger Escape Plan had chosen to cover Metallica while jamming with In flames. The latter band is even more closely referenced on the melodic opening riff for ‘your old ways’ which sees guitar harmonies opening the track and keeping the all important melody throughout the song – even seeing some clean vocals breaking into the chorus. It’s a little bit metal-core, but as the band don’t rely on it as a regular feature it has a positive impact rather than the dreary feeling of ‘here we go again’
Having apparently exorcised the demon of tuneful singing the band return to their more extreme ways on ‘Talk of the town’ which sees a wilful effort to up the brutality of the earlier tracks to new extremes and while the guitars maintain melody between chugging riffs there are no clean vocals to trip up on. ‘Nothing to offer’ again has a thrash feel to it albeit a viciously mechanized thrash element with a suitably hefty production job to back it up. The title track is a storming ride through everything the band has to offer and it’s impressive that Jack Delany keeps up his relentless vocal style with a confidence and power that marks him out as one of the most impressive metal vocalists currently treading the boards. Equally Sam Brennan deserves a mention for his constantly impressive drumming which is both inventive and lock tight. ‘Crumble and break’ is vicious but a tad more throw-away than anything else on the disc. It’s not anything you could describe as a low point but compared to the invention offered earlier it is less impressive. The same cannot be said of the groove-laden rumble of ‘grounded’ which completes this short but incredibly effective album (the whole thing clocks in at thirty-eight minutes).
This is an excellent album; tight, heavy and complex and most importantly it never outstays its welcome, preferring to unleash a brief but incredibly violent aural blitzkreig upon the listener and then departing leaving you shell-shocked and elated at the military precision which the band bring to bear. An excellent piece of work from a band who will, if there is any justice, continue to grow and gain new followers, ‘Breathless’ will leave you exactly that – an album that will undoubtedly leave you with an aching neck for some time to come!
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