Helping the World to See

Since At The Gates broke out with their recipe of death metal, melody and solid hardcore breakdowns the movement has spread and mutated so frequently it is hard to keep track of. I hear you ask, what is this movement? It is known as "metalcore" and it has many different faces. From the less frantic yet crushingly heavy breakdowns of Chimaira and Lamb Of God to the more melodic strains of God Forbid and Trivium to the faster attacks infused with melody and the odd breakdown of The Black Dahlia Murder and Vehemence the term metalcore has quite a wide and often fuzzy definition. Whilst Vehemence arent strictly a metalcore group there is indeed enough there to label them as one. Musically Vehemence are quite close to labelmates The Black Dahlia Murder in the fury, speed and melody of their sound taking on a more traditional approach closer to At The Gates than most other bands citing At The Gates as a major influence of which there are thousands. Vehemence definately hold a well trained ear for melody yet use it sparingly in comparison to their killer previous album 'God Was Created'. Songs like 'Kill for God' and the interlude 'Alone In Your Presence' which is stuck slap bang in the middle do display some melody but this melody is more akin to bands like Trivium rather than the lush melodies of 'God Was Created'. Other songs such as 'To The Taste' hold a much more punchy hardcore vibe with constant chuggy breakdowns which has become somewhat of a trademark for this movement known as metalcore. One thing for sure is that Vehemence are obviously a Metal Blade act. Imagine if you will a fusion of As I Lay Dying's melody, Six Feet Under's brutality and heaviness and The Black Dahlia Murder's speed. This vision could easily define how Vehemence sound.


One of Vehemence's features is the dual vocal attacks of Mark Kozuback and Nathan Gearheart. Nathan would have to have the better voice taking care of guttural death metal growls whilst Mark looks after the shrieks. The problem with these vocals is that they never vary tone or anything, and becomes quite bland. Andy Shroeder is a technically proficient drummer proven in the middle of 'You Dont Have To Be Afraid Anymore' where he blasts his way through some intriguing technical stop start drum patterns which would make The Dillinger Escape Plan and Sikth proud. There are a number of guitar solos dotted throughout this album courtesy of guitar maestros and main songwriters Bjorn Dannov and John Chavez. Lyrically Vehemence are very provocative and focus on a number of social issues which people tend to turn their back on such as manipulation, brainwashing and the corruption of religious cults, war, rape, politics and hypocrisy, drugs and more. In an interview I listened to with John Chavez he states that a lot of his lyrics are deliberately provocative intended to teach the masses. In comparison to 2002's 'God Was Created' masterpiece this album does fall relatively short, and this isnt just my opinion either. I have read many forum posts etc saying that 'Helping The World To See' falls short of its predecessor. A lot of the atmosphere on 'God Was Created' was lost and the production this time around leaves a lot to be desired for leaving everything clouded over, murky and distant. The thing which made 'God Was Created' such a great album was the crystal clear production and the outstanding melody. With this album the band opted to strip most of the melody and make a shitty produced album. A lot of 'Helping The World To See' seems incredibly generic and dry. The backup vocals are very mediocre. There are enough chuggy riffs here to keep the trend kids happy but if you are a fan of more harder metal you may want to direct your attention elsewhere. If you were wowed by 'God Was Created' then dont expect much from 'Helping The World To See' as it seems like a totally different band. Perhaps Vehemence opted for a rawer approach, I dont know. If you are one of the many falling head over heels for the new American melo-death-core wave, in particular The Black Dahlia Murder then I strongly recommend this album but for some reason I just dont get into it.