Phenomena

I was surprised, but pleased, to find this band in the archives. They have some pretty heavy metalcore and djent tendencies, so I figured they’d get snubbed. But Within the Ruins deserves a place here. The guitar players alone could throw down with many of the greats and work together like bread and butter. But let’s talk Phenomena.

I became familiar with these guys from the previous album, Elite, which is also quite good. I was impressed when just a few months after that strong release, they managed to put out a record that is even better. For those who are not aware, Phenomena is in some ways a bit of a concept album. It’s not telling a story, but there is one theme tying all the songs together: comic books. Each song is about a different character. Batman to Wolverine, Joker to Phoenix: they’re all here.

Being a bit of a nerd, this was a big draw for me. I found myself reading the lyrics more than I have since high school. The song titles are only cryptic references and the lyrics are vague enough that they could apply to a lot of things. As such, figuring out who each song was talking about became a bit of a fun guessing game for me. I found it all to be well-written and delivered well. Admittedly, the vocalist is not the most diverse, but he serves the music well enough. The best thing I could compare it to is a more metalcore version of Meshuggah vocals.

But what about the music? We don’t care about this comic crap! Fair enough, it’s not for everyone. The music, however, is excellent. The dual assault of these guitars is unique from any other I have heard. That super-compressed sound that I normally hate in modern music has somehow been harnessed by these guys into an insanely suitable guitar effect. It’s super technical and despite some bouncy djent chug, the majority of the riffs rely on treble notes just coming out of their pores. Comparisons to Periphery, After the Burial, and Dillinger Escape Plan are warranted, but none of those groups sound quite like this. You really have to hear it to get what I’m saying. It’s probably not something everyone will like, but give it a chance and it may grow on you as it did with me. I admit that I am so entranced by the guitar work that I have little to say about the drums and bass. I’m sure they are good as well, but it’s an afterthought at this point.

Everything comes together into a ride that is energetic and consistently enjoyable. My favorite track is the amazing opener, “Gods Among Men.” The song revolves around an argument between Professor X and Magneto about the humans. It opens with this weird, bouncy, echoey riff and the main lyrics kind of drifting in an out, then it gets to the part where he screams “we are evolution…we are GODS!” Hell breaks loose at this point. You would be hard pressed to not throw your metal claw in the air to that line and then bang your head for the verse and brief djent breakdowns. The band knows how to utilize these riffs in such a way as to not get lazy and rely on a simple chugga chugga. You’ll get a couple seconds of it broken up by some masterful leads and then you’re back to the main riff again. It has to be a marathon to play this stuff. Time changes amok and rarely a power chord in sight.

Other highlights include Calling Card, Hegira, Eternal Shore, and the 3rd installment of their Ataxia instrumentals that have been included on each album. Honestly every song here is excellent. This was another one I bought the same day I listened to it and it has been in regular rotation ever since. Give it a shot. You won’t be disappointed.