Eudemonic Promiscuity

Cast your eyes just to the north of Brisbane on the Sunshine Coast and you will find Archaea, a fairly new independent band sitting on the border of death metal and metalcore. This is Archaea's debut EP and it shows off Archaea's ability to write catchy solid riffs and razor sharp hooks with strong chuggy breakdowns. The only problem with this formula is that it has been done thousands of times before and has become incredibly generic being the current flavour of the day. The four songs which make up this EP all sound very similar which becomes tedious after 20 minutes and is the main area which Archaea need work on. There are a few impressive solos ala newer Deicide, as well as the occasional semi acoustic breakdown but it all sounds incredibly dry. Creatures vocals go from a deep growl to a higher metalcore yell but also stays incredibly boring. The production on this album is quite good thanks to Nik Carpenter (ex-Devolved) however it isnt enough to save this EP from falling into mediocrity. 'Eudemonic Promiscuity' would definately appeal to fans of Chimaira, Lamb Of God and the like but may be too watered down for extreme metallers to fully grasp. Imagine the melody of Carcass mixed into the above mentioned names and you have Archaea. This just isnt my thing!