![]() Right out of the gate, Misery Signals begin a relentless onslaught of intensity that seems unparalleled when compared to other modern metalcore releases. Ultraviolet starts strong with the album’s first single, “The Tempest”. This album will be incredibly special to fans from the early days, as it is their first record since their debut full-length Of Malice and the Magnum Heart to include the entire original line-up! ![]() Their new album Ultraviolet continues with the band’s legacy, but also shows growth and maturity. The band originally caught my attention with their ability to seamlessly combine emotional melodies with immense brutality. Each of these bands managed to introduce me to my new interest: metalcore.Ībout ten years removed from my initial discoveries, my overall interest in metalcore has dwindled, but Misery Signals have quickly reminded me of what was so fascinating about the genre. In the late 2000s, I saw Unearth opening for Testament, Killswitch Engage opening for Slayer, and Lamb of God opening for Metallica. Strangely enough, my infatuation with all of these classic heavy artists birthed my enjoyment of a different subgenre. ![]() The aggression was attractive to me, and I became absolutely enthralled with checking out as many bands as I could find. I first traversed the expansive genre with my introduction to Metallica and Megadeth, and soon I found myself loving everything about thrash metal. When they do that, they reign as maybe the best band of their genre, even if it doesn't sell them as many records.My early years of listening to metal were sufficiently cliché. All they need to do is be crushing, but still challenging. The previously mentioned lull in "Reset" gives way to "Homecoming," a devastating epic with huge riffs, closing the album with a succinct statement: " Within me, the spell is broken."Įvery Karl Schubach lyric is delivered with passion, but I'm hoping that they really do break this spell of near compromise in their sound. It's a perfect summary of what Misery Signals can do. ![]() Far and away the best song on Controller, "Set In Motion" has superb guitar work from Ryan Morgan and Stu Ross, and ends with Schubach bellowing in urgency the command, " Burn it down / Burn it to the fucking ground / It's not going to stop," with the band providing a thunderous punctuation. Schubach sounds fantastic with this, but when it's happening in not-so-heavy parts, he's a bit out of place with the band, going at it too harshly.Īwkward moments aside, the moments where Schubach's roar does connect are everywhere. He has also dropped his vocals to an even lower pitch than on Mirrors, taking on a more guttural delivery. He sings even more on "Ebb and Flow." Schubach's singing isn't unbearable, but is probably unnecessary, since he got by just fine before this without it. "A Certain Death" also features the first melodic singing from vocalist Karl Schubach, a jarring experience to say the least. It barely cracks three minutes, and that's only because they draw out the final riff for too long. Most disappointing is "A Certain Death," the most underdeveloped song on here, but somehow Controller's first single. While Misery Signals have always meticulously crafted their songs, they just didn't quite fill their normal quota of memorable riffs. It's the first time on a Misery Signals record where you could fall asleep for a couple minutes and not really miss anything, proof that melodic variety can harm rather than help. Extended instrumental passages in "Coma" and "Reset" are pleasant but not interesting at all. Now with Controller, Misery Signals are smoothing out even more edges, but producing a few less compelling results. But their last album, Mirrors, showed a band maybe second-guessing their inaccessible ideas and smoothing a few edges, while still creating their strongest effort yet. For Misery Signals, this is an even bigger dilemma, as they have built their name by using difficult time meters and odd song structures. As much as I hate having to type this word, "deathcore" is setting swooped hair a-fluttering and selling tons of records macho breakdown bands like Emmure are somehow able to get wrestler Kurt Angle on their album cover and the sing-y chorus thing refuses to die. A hardcore band in 2008 has a lot to keep up with.
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