Reanimation

I must say that Bloodshot Dawn was my only hope left in melodic death metal.  I mean, Inferi is still doing amazing, but they're 50/50 with their melody and technicality.  Bloodshot Dawn is technical, but they're definitely more melodic.  But, alas, that hope is currently dead.

First of all, did they get a new vocalist?  According to every possible source (a.k.a. The Metal Archives) the answer is no.  For some reason, Josh McMorran just sounds incredibly dry on this album.  There are some moments where the dryer vocals give the album a bit more of an edge, but this is rare.  They did, however, get a new bassist and a new drummer.  The new bassist means no more kick-ass bass solos that could be seen several times on "Demons," and the new drummer isn't all that great.  I mean, he's good, but he's not as good as their previous drummer.

This album is basically a combination of "Demons" and "Bloodshot Dawn."  It has the solos and a few riffs that sound like they're from "Demons" and it has the ability to bore like "Bloodshot Dawn."  This doesn't mean it is bad because "Bloodshot Dawn" was a great album, but even great things can be boring.  There are just moments on here that make me regret listening to the album.  Like the music can be unpredictable, but it's shitty in its unpredictability.  Usually, I encourage unpredictability, but when it comes to songs like "Survival Evolved," "Soul Affliction," and "Upon the Throne of Fear," there are just a few riffs that they will play after another riff and it just doesn't sound good (usually due to some really weird key change or progression that doesn't fit the music).  This is just another example of the mediocrity of this album.

There is only one song on here that I enjoyed all the way through.  "Seared Earth" had some cool solos, but the riffs weren't all that impressive, "Graviton Nightmare" caught my interest with its riffage, but it became boring about two thirds of the way through before picking up again, and "Survival Evolved" was a very upbeat song which is a sound that I'm personally not a huge fan of.  "Upon the Throne of Fear" had one of those unpredictable yet dissatisfying riffs, but the chorus was awesome (like "Unified" from "Demons," it was one of those guitar solo choruses).  "Controlled Conscious" is good, but it's just that, nothing special.  "Soul Affliction" is a sad attempt at progressive metal (again with the unpredictable yet dissatisfying riffs).  "Shackled" has a cool solo - at first - before it goes all wrong (thankfully the solo ended shortly after it became bad), and "Battle for the Omniverse" has a cool intro, but that's all it has going for it: three or four seconds of quirky noises.  Finally, there's "DNA Reaquisition/Reanimated," the album's closer that is the only song I enjoyed.  And it wasn't even that great.

Basically, this thing has great solos and, if this weren't their third album, I would say it has potential.  But, this is their third album.  A lot of bands have comebacks, so hopefully Bloodshot Dawn will be one of them.  I mean, they just need to adjust to the new lineup.  Replacing two out of four members is an extreme change, so I bet they'll get their stuff back together for their fourth release.  But, for now, this is pretty disappointing.

Overall Rating: 59%

Originally written for themetalvoid.wordpress.com