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October 12, 2008 |
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01. Intro
02. Eyes Of Ignorance
03. Integrity
04. Truth B.C.
05. To Carry The Burden
06. The Raven's Eye
07. Scars From The Candle
08. Give Up The Ghost
09. Hand Of Glory
10. Soiled Wings
11. Interlude
12. The Dirge
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The Arizona desert's most dominant dealers of desolation, AUTUMN'S END, have opened up the floodgates on the unsuspecting Metal masses in a tidal wave of innovative brilliance in the guise of "Act Of Attrition", and in its wake comes the unfaltering certainty that AUTUMN'S END are a band that single handedly redefines what we've come to know about the North American Metal scene. Integrating chilling, ethereal acoustic melodies, morose yet moving vocal harmonies, groove and rhythm driven guitar grit and demonic, hell fueled growls, AUTUMN'S END conjure emotionally invocative dirges and adrenalized Death Metal devastation of such a caliber as to rival-and sometimes surpass-the established eclectic brilliance of European legends such as OPETH, BORKNAGAR, and EDGE OF SANITY.
Perhaps the most intimidating aspect of "Act Of Attrition" is the fact that this is only the second release from AUTUMN'S END, and yet the stage is already set for their ascension to the upper echelon of American Metal legends. Having come out of the gates delivering their first album with celerity of skill and compositional capacity so acute as to cause one to think they were well over a decade into a brilliant career, the enduring strength and dominance of "Act Of Attrition" should be less a surprise and more a manifestation of the proverbial writing on the wall. Simply put, "Act Of Attrition" is everything you would expect from a band that launched their career so brilliantly; everything you would expect, and even more.
Apart from the obvious and inevitable improvements - namely a higher caliber production that creates a more professional and less demo-like feel to the music, and better mixing that brings out the distinction in every aspect of the music and vocals - there is also a more definitive and concise quality to the song arrangements, a more clarified grasp and elaboration on the nuances and stylish integrations that define the band. Herein lies an overall sense of cohesion, direction and delivery that incites an undeniable certainty that the path the music has set your mind and ears upon is precisely the path the band determined, every twist, every turn, every brick laid exactly as AUTUMN'S END intended them to be. For this path is far from the straight and narrow - it is a journey through ever shifting landscapes of damnation and darkness, fundamentally melded by a pervading sense of oppressive desolation, not unlike the unforgiving desert that spawned this beast, but profoundly varied in the ample peaks and valleys of instrumental melancholy, vocal lamentation, and rampaging Death Metal fury.
One moment you may be lulled into reflective solitude through the solemn beauty conveyed in the piano of the album's intro or the somber melody and lulling sadness of songs such as "Soiled Wings" and "To Carry The Burden", only to find yourself suddenly throttling an adrenaline fueled fist repeatedly in the air to the relentless groove and grind of stomping thrashers like "Integrity" and "Truth B.C.". And so it goes throughout the album, the music lifting you high on a breaking tide of inspired fury and aggression only to set you down gently upon the shores of reflection with waves of solemnity and solitude before sweeping you up once more, waxing and waning like the solitary moon in a world where the sun and light have long since died. So bring yourself to the clearing at the end of the path, where false light cannot oppress the enduring truth manifested in the decaying leaves, the naked trees, and the rising mist. Welcome the embrace of nature's greatest truth: Death. "Shackled in time, wrap your wings around me. Sleep in the night, let the wind speak through me." Hear the wind, welcome the sleep, and let the wings bear you unto AUTUMN'S END.
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