Rings of Saturn

Rings Of Saturn is one of those bands whom fans of any death metal genre would be thrown off just from the fact the band is known for Deathcore sound, although some of these same fans might at least grow an interest towards the band due to the band also incorporating Technical Death Metal and Progressive elements into their music. Up until now, the band's discography has been very consistent with the Technical/Progressive Deathcore fusion. Fans of the Technical/Progressive sub-genre might grow an appreciation for previous albums like "Ultu Ulla" and "Gidim" for example. However, their expectation for the band to maintain this specific fusion should be completely left behind after "Gidim" as this self-titled album delivers an overall inconsistent performance meshed with Trap and Chip-Tune elements that simply do not work with the Technical guitar riffs that is accompanied alongside.

As already mentioned, the overall performance of this self-titled album is a mishmash of various genres blended into Technical riffs with no sense of consistency whatsoever. What makes this experience head turning is the use of MIDI instrumentation that was handled in every wrong sort of aspects possible. The opening track "Shrine" starts with a lo-fi plucking performance which actually could be effective if it was handled right. This opening performance quickly gives the impression this album could be another simple progressive tech experience similar to the previous albums. However, this is quickly shot down 7 seconds later as it includes 808-packed MIDI hip-hop beats featuring claps and repeated hi-hats along with low bass notes. Now if this only served as an introduction track, it could maybe have been more acceptable. But this is essentially the experience for the album itself as it incorporates progressive guitar sweeping alongside high-pitched synthesizer that sounds reminiscent of Dream Theater. In terms of separating the instrumentation performances apart in the overall compositions, the tracks tend to slow things down with it's use of simple programmed trap beats before speeding up the pace with the technical/progressive guitar riffs and drumming. As expected for a technical performance, the drumming itself plays a series of blast beats that keep itself in time with the guitar sweeping and breakdowns. The mixing of the instrumentation work maintains a steady velocity with a perfectly clean production, but the guitar and drum work are sadly forgotten very easily as the MIDI synth and trap beats steals the show.

In terms of the overall nature of this album, it can easily give the impression it's more as a simple Experimental album especially since it happens to be a pure instrumental album. But as far as experimental projects go, this album gives no consistency. Aside from the use of trap and synth beats, the album incorporates various other forms of instruments such as the use of an acoustic guitar in the second track "Kronos" which delivers a medium-paced plucking performance that sounds extremely out of place as it plays alongside both the electric guitar and trap beats before coming to a halt when an entirely new composition work comes into play that incorporates ethereal pads until bringing in a technical riff performance from out of nowhere. This lasts for a good moment after recycling the earlier trap beats until it includes a sudden grand piano performance alongside an orchestral performance that once again comes from out of nowhere. The formula comes across as random, it almost gave me the impression I turned on a completely different song. In fact I would have never guessed this album was released by Rings Of Saturn themselves if I blindly listened to this without looking up the name especially with the later tracks that include dubstep elements such as the track "Ascending" and a purely orchestral performance within "Genesis" where a single guitar appearance is nowhere to be seen along with programmed Chip-Tune sections that can especially be found in the track "Shinigami" which sounds like an 80s arcade media. In between these tracks, there is at least an actual Technical performance in the song "Sector 80" which is definitely much closer to what the band is known for due to not containing a single trap or synth beat. However, this quickly becomes disappointing as the actual song is only 14 seconds. Talk about being let down.

Overall, this self-titled album by Rings Of Saturn tries to be an experimental experience. The talent is certainly here just as much as the previous albums, but the melodies attempting to blend in with the trap/hip-hop beats is what completely kills the album's creation as a whole. The overall impression speaks to me as the band attempting to create a whole new unique style of music and this could have worked if it had a consistent tone with the compositions. So if any fan of Tech Death is looking for any new projects with actual creativity added, they're better off ignoring this album completely.

One of my favorite deathcore bands of all time has become a shell of their former self. I honestly wasn't sure I even wanted to listen to this album considering Ian is gone. He was a big part of this band and extremely talented, and the fact that the band didn't even bother to replace him shows. Or, maybe Lucas Mann just decided to be himself like usual. Lucas is probably the reason Ian left, or was possibly fired because Lucas wanted full creative control over the band. We may never know, but now we've entered the instrumental era of the band. Rings has obviously done instrumental tracks in the past, and they were really well done. Utopia is a bitchin' track and probably my favorite of all the instrumentals, The Heavens Have Fallen is a much more melodic and mellow track with quite a bit of acoustic parts thrown in, The Macrocosm is another really awesome one, and Gidim is definitely my second favorite because it's the most alien to me I guess. Thinking back to those tracks, I decided to finally cave in and listen to this latest record, and man am I torn.

From the second this album starts, I already knew something was up. Oriental style trap beats? Did Lucas recently get done listening to Yokai by Within Destruction? As much as I love Yokai, I don't think the trap beats work here. Rings has never used trap beats before, nor have they really done any piano stuff. Speaking of the piano parts, I actually really dig them. A nice contrast instead of just opting for acoustic parts. There's one good thing. The trap beats add nothing though. I don't know who thought they were a good idea. They're so low effort as well. I swear I've heard most of these trap beats about a million times before. It's kind of cool when they work in tandem with the machinegun-like riffing and drumming, but on they're own, they stick out like a sore thumb.

Now, about the instrumental parts themselves. The guitar, bass, and drums sounds amazing, truly. The production on this record is top notch, so each of the instruments really shine through. Again, would be better without trap beats, but I digress. The riffs are really solid here I must say. Very much taken out of the playbook of Gidim more so than the other previous albums. I will say, though, that the drums do sound a bit overproduced and fake, which is probably the case because the band doesn't have a drummer and probably just used a drum machine. I don't have any major problems with that, but if you're putting all your attention on the instrumentations, you might as well make it as believable as possible. The bass is definitely present, which I always appreciate, although most of the time it's coming from the trap beats and not an actual bass guitar. Overall, the instrumentation still sounds very much like Rings, so I give it an A for this category.

Funnily enough, I actually think one of the best tracks on this album is Sector 80. The track is a whopping 14 seconds. In all seriousness though, I wish this track was a lot longer. Within those 14 seconds, I felt like I was about to listen to the Rings I grew up with, but alas, like any good relationship, it didn't last long. Actual standout tracks would include Shrine, Ascending, and Shinigami. Extremely solid guitar work and pretty good drumming. I'm going to actually recommend you listen to all the tracks because they're all pretty interesting, but only if you're willing to get past the trap parts, which there are quite a bit of of.

After giving this album a solid listen through, I'd say this latest effort from Rings of Saturn deserves a 72%. It may seem generous, but that's what I'm feeling. Most of the album is really technical and badass sounding. The biggest downside is that you're expecting the songs to pick up at a certain point go all out, but then it just dulls down to a trap beat section. If you want to have a really REALLY good time with this record, I recommend listening to it stoned off your ass.