Sarea - This Is Not Goodbye (2014)

Metal fans can be a finicky bunch.  Metalcore is often decried by anyone who feels that the style has no business being associated with heavy metal.  Those fans sometimes go so far as to take offense to said metalcore bands being classified as "metal" in any fashion.  I understand this viewpoint, though I disagree with it in most cases.  I think "metal", as an over-arching genre, is far more vast and diverse than some folks would like to admit or recognize.  Sarea is a good example of a band that skirts that line and makes a case for something that stays within those boundaries while pushing at them pretty forcefully.

If I had to make a comparison, I'd say Killswitch Engage is a good comparison, but then that doesn't do this band's sound justice.  The most melodic of KSE songs is where we find the closest match to what Sarea is doing, but their sound is more expansive than what that description would lead one to believe.  I also hesitate to compare them to Five Finger Death Punch, mostly due to the combination of clean and screamed/growled vocals, and the tendency of the material to sound heavy while giving off a modern hard rock vibe.  Think of post-metalcore stuff that rides the line between modern hard rock and semi-progressive modern metal.  Add a healthy dose of keyboards and vocals that vacillate between a more rock-oriented style of singing, and a layered vocal that combines a deep, relatively throaty growl and a higher-pitched hardcore/metalcore styled yell/growl, and you get something that begins to defy genre tags just enough to be annoying.  This combination of elements generally serves Sarea well.

Right away, it's obvious that the album owes a great debt to modern hard rock, because many of the melodic touchstones take cues from other bands who have taken the metalcore and/or modern screamo sound and moved in a more rock direction, and the keyboards just exemplify that shift.  There are still spots where the faster tempos and riffing cling to the heavier side of the metalcore coin, however, and the addition of a few well-constructed guitar solos and the lack of traditional breakdowns make it hard to label this metalcore.  Instead, it falls somewhere between a modern, melodic hard rock, and a modern, melodic metal sound with extreme metal elements.  If I can be cheesy for a moment, can I call this "rockcore"?  That would best describe the sound in a single term.  That's not to say that there isn't plenty of metal moments present, because there are.  In particular, "The Catch 22" has a nice dual-guitar lick and some heavy riffing alongside a speedy tempo, a fast drum rhythm, and mostly shouted/growled vocals, and a real nice solo half-way through.

Guitars have a nice tone to them - not too heavy to take away from the rock influences, but heavy enough that when the riffs are hanging out on the lower string and in the lower chords, there's plenty of bite to them.  The guitar solos sound good as well, with enough grit to them so they sound more metal than hard rock.  Overall, Johan Alexsson and Alex Dzaic do a good job on the album.  Bass is handled by Johan Larsson, and is solid throughout, though I didn't recognize anything overly complex coming from his neck of the woods.  Still, he provides the necessary thump and bump in the mix.  Drumming by "Charlie D" is good, alternating nicely between simple rhythms and fast-paced, more metal-oriented playing.  He certainly has a handle on rolls, because he uses them quite a bit throughout the album.  Special mention should be made of the keyboard work by Martin Persson, because he shines quite a bit throughout the album.  The additional atmosphere he provides gives the album much more personality than it would have without his presence here.

Vocals are handled by Chris Forsberg, and seeing as he handles both the singing and screaming, he does a pretty good job switching between the two styles.  His singing voice appears to have improved between "Alive" and this new release, and while his ability to scream and growl is by no means top-tier, he does a good job expressing the energy of the material.  I'd put him on par with someone like Howard Jones, though perhaps he has a bit more range (if you want to call it that) with regards to his screaming, in part because he can get slightly guttural at times, and has an element of that "sing-scream" at times, too.  His singing is competent, and improved over the previous release, though he lacks the power and emotion of someone like Howard Jones in the clean vocal category.  Still, he does a good job overall.

I have to be honest about two things.  First, my initial reaction to This Is Not Goodbye was very mild.  It sounded good on the surface, but I wasn't sure if I was going to like it long-term.  Second, Metalcore as a style has become very watered down, and many bands trying to move past the style either sound utterly wimpy, or they become bad imitators of either the deathcore scene, or the Gothencore style.  I wondered whether or not Sarea could weather that downturn in the credibility of their chosen sound/style.  Upon repeated listens, Sarea surprised me with some level of range, a sound that wasn't too devoid of heaviness so that it still piqued my interest, and a good enough range of songs that I feel like the band has a real future with what they're doing.  Doolittle Group has an interesting road ahead with this signing, because it departs significantly with what they've done thus far.  I hope they can do well by the band and get them marketed properly so they can have some impact, because I think they have a solid thing going.  Recommended for the melodic metalcore and post-metalcore fan-base.

78/100

Here's the official video for Sarea's song "Downfall".

Voyager - V (2014)

Progressive Metal has become a crowded field.  In order to stand out, you really have to do something special, unique, or just be so insanely talented that people sit and listen to your album with their jaw on the floor, much like most of us did when Dream Theater first hit the scene and were wowing us with their level of playing talent.  Now that they've spawned a generation of copycats and gone toward a sound increasingly concerned with solos and individual playing, but have forsaken actually writing great songs about 50% of the time, other bands have more opportunity to showcase their talents and get noticed.  While Voyager has been releasing albums since 2003, I've only become aware of them recently, and "V" is my first exposure to their sound.

Upon first listen, I was taken aback at how much I felt their sound was at once unique and also quite familiar.  They remind me of some other recent semi-progressive bands playing a vaguely modern hard rock/metal sound with a unique vocal approach.  LA's Clandestine comes to mind, especially since their single "Disappear In You" has a similar hard-hitting yet melodic approach that opening track "Hyperventilate" has.  If you can imagine Orphan Project making an album immediately after listening to a couple Halcyon Way albums, that might give you a small idea of what this sounds like, but only hints at what you can expect on this record.  Their sound isn't that far removed from the likes of Souljorners or Ascension Theory either, though with a focus on songwriting and pop sensibility, perhaps a bit like Mehida.  One-time Canadian outfit Asher is another audio touchstone.  If you like progressive metal of the highly melodic and subtle variety, you're in for a treat.

It must be said immediately that this record sounds very "clean".  Those who like some level of grit, grime, and dirt in their metal will find almost none of that here, save for the distortion in the guitar tone, which is bassy and heavy.  Even so, the heavy, distorted guitar lines still sound "clean", in that they're processed and produced to get the sound and tone without any aural artifacts.  Don't think that diminishes the heaviness factor, because it doesn't.  The riffs sound meaty, and the solos have some bite to them when need be, and a real smooth feel to them at other times.  There's a fair bit of clean guitar work present, and it often creates a good balance between achieving a melodic center to the song and providing the listener something they can sink their teeth into before ramping up the heavy and knocking them around a bit.  The solo work also has a balance between complex runs and licks, and melodic lines that make them more memorable and tuneful.  I'm not sure who does more soloing, Scott or Simone, but hats off to whomever takes the reigns on that front, because the solos on this record are interesting and highly listenable.  Alex's bass work is good throughout, though he doesn't often get the opportunity to shine like some prog bassists do.  And drumming by Mark Boeijin is quite good, with a lot of niceties here and there, and it sounds like he gives the drums a solid pounding.  The bass drum sound is also nicely up front, with that satisfying thump you expect out of a modern sounding record.  Keyboards aren't overdone, and there are some songs where they aren't included at all, but used as an accent in some areas, and a focal point in others (especially the piano work in "Summer Always Comes Again") they work really well and are an integral part of the sound of "V".

I can't describe Daniel Estrin's voice without first stating that it's just so stinking smooth.  A lot of vocalists have an ability to transition seamlessly from gritty, gravelly vocals to a "smooth as butter" kind of sound, but the latter is Daniel's default setting.  There are a couple moments where his voice gets just slightly raspy, but on the whole, his performance is really even.  That doesn't diminish the emotional impact, either, because he has a nice sense of when he needs to be loud and frantic, and when things should get quiet and be a bit more plaintive.  He has a real nice tone to his voice, and his annunciation and phrasing have a bit of a unique feel to them.  Per the press kit, Chino Moreno of the Deftones likened Daniel's voice to that of Simon Lebon from Duran Duran, and I can hear a resemblance and similarity in the richness of their voices, though I'd say Daniel's voice has a richer, "thicker" tone to it.  All in all, this guy can sing and sing well, and I thoroughly enjoyed his performance throughout the record.  I also really liked in "A Beautiful Mistake" where guest vocalist Zemyna Kuliukas and Daniel were layered together harmonizing, because they really fit with the pop-infused progressive metal vibe on this CD.  Whoever she is, her voice is lovely and needs to be heard by more people.  I also enjoyed the occasional light sprinkling of mid-range growls, because they add just another minor ingredient to the mix.

I was pleasantly surprised by the album, and frankly, quite shocked that I'd only heard of the band before and hadn't heard their music.  Having gone back and listened to the previous 2 releases to get a frame of reference, I can safely say this is the best of at least the last 3 albums, and if the band continues in this vein of a hyper-melodic, pop-tinted semi-progressive metal sound, I see great things ahead.  Both singles thus far (opener "Hyperventilating" and "Breaking Down") exemplify the core sound of the band, and represent the album well, but only tell a small portion of the story that is "V".  I probably listened to this album 40 or 50 times in preparation for this review, and was honestly dreading writing the review.  Not only can I not put into words how excellent this slab of music truly is, but it also means having to move on and listen to other, likely less worthy music for a while until the next truly awesome album comes my way.  Until then, I'll have to pull this one out again on occasion, because the songs have been stuck in my head for weeks.  Highly recommended, if not downright essential.

90/100