Alternative metal and the ‘core’ genres that have spawned up around them since the dawn of the millennium have distanced themselves from the ‘guitar solo’ to one which is primarily focused upon rhythms and that heaviest of all, the breakdown. One such band who are throwing their hat in this ring are The End of Melancholy (TEOM) who are releasing their sophomore album ‘Nature Unleashed’.
As an album, ‘Nature Unleashed’ is an exceptionally modern sounding alternative metal album that incorporates large swathes of Metalcore into its sound. This means that the Russian band deliver an album which is highly modern, polished, and accessible with a band which is tighter than a submarine door as low end staccato rhythms give way to powerful soared chorus’ that are both masterfully sung and growled through a vocal performance which leads to the inevitable breakdown. This does mean that tracks such as ‘Bloody Tears’, ‘Sacrifice’ and ‘Internally Eternal’ have the ability to bring in fans of In This Moment, Jinjer and Infected Rain as TEOM flex their musical muscle.
However, there isn’t anything that the listener will not have heard before, the cover of ‘The Immigrant Song’ does border a little on sacrilege and those who are disparaging of alternative metal/Metalcore are unlikely to be swayed by the album. Yet, fans of this genre will get what ‘Nature Unleashed’ is doing and in the right hands, this band can go far.
