The Fundamental Component

As far as i know this is Byzantine's first major release with a full, established lineup (apparently they used to play with a drum machine), and what a fucking great first effort it is! From the off, this album secretes pure metal quality at every turn. Byzantine's sound can't easily be pigeonholed - it combines the thrash vibes of a more technical Megadeth with the polyrhythmic breaks of Meshuggah, along with the occasional sludgey section (with excellent clean vocals). Think of everything I just described played and written with strong values of originality and progression, and you just about get a grasp on the sound Byzantine has achieved on this album. The Fundamental Component is refreshingly modern and cutting edge, and yet it simaltaneously wears its wide breadth of influence from the old school on its sleeve with pride (Byzantine aren't afraid to stick in some awesome shred every now and then!!)

The Fundamental Component features an excellent dynamic range, and there is also a wide variety in terms of tempos and song structures. Every song follows a fairly consistent mood or hook, so the songs are accessible without loosing their individual value. Another excellent aspect of this album is the production. While the sound of this album does occassionally remind one of meshuggah, overall the production is quite unique - the guitars crush and the bass drum has a satisfying 'click' to it, although that said fans of more organic sounding metal will perhaps appreciate this less. I, however, think it suits Byzantine's tight, modern cocktail of all things metal.

Album highlights include 'my new casket', 'hatfield', and 'slipping on noise' to name but a few, but then the quality of this album is pretty consistent.

In summary, if you're looking to hear some intelligent metalcore with excellent songwriting then check this band out. And yeh, they're a hell of a lot more true/better than most of their metalcore contemparies (think killswitch). Vehement elitists may dislike the enormous range of influence and styles featured within The Fundamental Component though (yes, there is some hardcore in there!).