We Are Gathered Here Today

I imagine this falls under some silly subgenre like “deathcore”, likely in an effort to separate it from “real death metal.” I guess that’s somewhat fair, considering how different it is from the old school stuff, but the level of “core” is not nearly what one would expect. In fact, it’s barely there at all. What this really is, is a Cryptopsy rip-off that throws in some of the modern trends of uber-technicality (which is not to say that Cryptopsy aren’t technical themselves), schizophrenic structuring (think The Red Chord), and occasional sections of real melodicism (not surprising considering they share two members with Between the Buried and Me, although I believe at the time of recording it was only the one guitarist). And yeah, in a few spots there are near-breakdowns. Deal.
I could probably end this review by adding, “It rules” to the above, but I’ll try to get a bit more descriptive. Vocals are full-on death metal; no faux-death hardcore vox here. Generally not too deep, but every so often he goes super low. The lyrics are excellent, although a bit too reminiscent of The Red Chord’s approach. This may, however, be a case in which the student surpasses the teacher. The guitar tone is sharp; it’s not quite as thick as might be preferable normally, but with the intricacy of the riffing, it is nice to be able to hear every note. Drumming is highly competent, as expected in this style.
The band has two big strengths and, perhaps unexpectedly, brutality is not one of them. No question, the band rips, but this isn’t the rabid dog-type style of The Red Chord. Glass Casket are much more willing to let a riff play itself out; each section is given room to breathe. But about those strengths: One is the structuring; despite the schizo nature of the songs, nothing is that jarring. They’ve managed to make as much sense as possible out of chaos. The second big bragging point here is the melodic stuff, which is very powerful. “In Between the Sheets” and “A Gray A.M. You Will Never Get to See”, which utilize that aspect of the songwriting the most, are by far the strongest tracks on the record. Notably, they never slip into the near-emo area that Between the Buried and Me might be accused of.
In conclusion, this is a very, very good disc from a band that will probably put out something even better at some point. It should appeal to a rather wide audience within metal’s fanbase.