Threat Signal "Under Reprisal" (Nuclear Blast)
By Taylor Green
Tuesday. Sep 05, 12:03 AM
Shoots for the "heavy versus melodic" underbelly of death metal.

About three seconds into opener "Rational Eyes," it became clear what I was getting with Under Reprisal. And while predictability may not make it a bad album, it has made me sick and tired of the hype surrounding every hybrid band to pop up within the last three years. Chunky Meshuggah-esque math rhythm, dual vocals akin to melodic death metal, technicality-driven riffs, and double bass pedal galore. Okay, so now that every band has adapted to this new style, can we please get over the "most original band" adjective?

That aside, Under Reprisal is not a bad release. In the vein of Mnemic and Fear Factory, Threat Signal shoot for the heavy versus melodic underbelly of the death metal movement. Tracks like "Rational Eyes" and "Seeing Red" provide some core heaviness to the album and dabble in brooding darkness similar to early Fear Factory or modern Meshuggah with chugging, bass driven tempos. And "Inane" and "Faceless" provide some well adjusted speed for the latter sections of the album.

The glaring hole in Under Reprisal is the transitioning. Clean vocal melodic choruses from Opeth, Fear Factory, and other heavyweights flow seamlessly out of the periods of chaos and aggression. But with "Counter Balance," "Rational Eyes," and the vast majority of the albums' remaining songs, transitions seem to hit a brick wall and songs seem to stop in order to expand into the realm of melody. Whereas bands like Soilwork and In Flames have directly fused the elements, bands like Opeth who contrast the elements walk a fine line. Threat Signal stumble walking that line and tracks that could sound amazing end up sounding forced and pieced together.

Under Reprisal shows signs of a behemoth to rise, but the album possesses all the mistakes of a debut. Rather than trying to incorporate everything like the masters of the trade, Threat Signal need to go back to the drawing board and try mastering one style before assimilating them all. "Inane" shows that the band can put together straight up fast, punishing death metal with the best of them, and vocalist Jon Howard has a phenomenal range of highs and lows. But when it's time to add, the band seem to have left the formula book at home.
www.threatsignal.com
www.nuclearblastusa.com

Listen to a song from this album in our Radio section!

Taylor Green

Got something constructive to say? By all means, rant away. Gonna blab about something unrelated and/or talk shit? Don't expect your comment to stick around.