Lista de Bandas Technical Thrash Semic Stains This Cage

This is a promo that contains three songs from the upcoming album of Semic Stains that will be entitled "Secrecy of Thoughts" (seems like a last minute change in the album title but that is usual). I was aware of this band from their first demo which was a solid work of thrash/death metal and was curious to see what they would come up with with their second endeavor. So after 7 to 8 years in the making we get a taste of this record with their promo "This Cage". The three songs that make up this promo are "The Martyrdom Altar", "Outburst" and "This Cage" with a total playing time of 12:56. What we have here is three powerful songs that are well constructed with all the right hooks. They are a continuation and vast improvement of their first attempt in all aspects, from song writing to sound and production. These are not one or two riff songs that will bore you to death or songs with one million notes and changes per minute that is meant as a mental exercise. The key in the song writing here is balance between aggressive and technical playing and some melodic moments. The songs are cleverly (and might sound with the first listen) set up as simple but anyone who has listened to metal for a while and has a bit of music knowledge can understand that this is not the case. Of course the leading role in the music is guitar and vocal based but this is to be expected in the modern thrash/death genre. The drums are not to be taken lightly though since they not only enhance the aggressive playing of the guitars but when they must, they bring forth the more technical riffs that appear in the songs.

Starting with the first song of the promo "The Martyrdom Altar" We have a great opener as this is mostly a fast thrash track. The main riff of this song makes you want to break stuff. While this is an aggressive song the chorus part is a bit more melodic in order to alleviate the tension that is created. The bass part on the chorus (while evident and modest in most of this promo) comes forward showing the capabilities of the bass player. The vocal performance is really convincing and gets you in the right mood. There are some clean vocals here and there that are in key but don't really add much to the song. The solo section is nice and while not over the top shredding it really seems to be just right. The song seems to flow effortlessly and while it lasts 4:33 you end up thinking that it is even a bit short.

Then the second song "Outburst" seems to borrow more elements from death metal than thrash metal with a darker atmosphere. It is also the most technical of the three songs since the rhythm pattern seems to change from part to part. The riffing is less straightforward and the drumming has the opportunity to show off with the almost jazzy playing in the pre-chorus and chorus section. The nice use of the toms in the various parts of the song (not just for breaks) is much appreciated. Even if this composition is more technical it flows very easily and you are left wondering if the song is actually has a duration of 4:26. This shows the effort that has been done in the composition of the songs. It seems that the position of every riff, the repetition and the arrangement between the various instruments (including the voice) is not to dazzle the listener with their musical abilities and create indigestible songs but in order to serve the song and the music and to intensify the listening experience. The solo section is quite good and again not in the shred department. Again it fits the atmosphere of the song and what is rewarding is that is not on a 4/4 based riff (actually 7/4) which is not that usual.

The final song of this promo "This Cage" is again a more thrashy song with less death metal elements but with more groove than the other songs. While it is a quite aggressive song it doesn't bring out the same intensity as "The Martyrdom Altar" but moves to more modern thrash metal parts with the groove factor going overboard in the chorus. This should not be mistaken with the breakdowns that have become very famous with the American melo-death or deathcore bands as there is actually no change in tempo and don't expand for half or more of the song. It seems more of a hardcore influence that is given by the clean vocals that appear as backing vocals here. In this song they seem to add more as they did on the first song. Then there comes a melodic part that brings to mind the Swedish death metal scene (it actually reminded me a bit of In Flames). It is very well placed and the melody introduced here actually enhances the whole song. After which the solo section comes where the guitarists finally show more their abilities as lead guitarists.

By listening to this promo what you get is three songs of modern thrash/death metal with melodic and technical parts. The riffing in the song shows the capabilities of the guitarists as it does not consists of continuous chugging of power chords. They have purpose and you can hear sometimes a distinction to a more rhythm and more lead (rhythm) guitar instead of playing the same thing all the time. The guitars and vocals do steal the highlight with the bass having a more supportive role. What is most noticeable though is the composition and arrangement of the songs that make them easily accessible. The drums come into the spotlight when they have to, changing between more aggressive, technical and melodic part have a reason and are seamless. If this is just a sample of the work the whole album then I must say that I am impatiently waiting to listen to the whole record. This is of course a matter of taste and some people may not have the same opinion but the good thing is that you are able to listen to the songs yourself and make up your own mind!

Semic Stains, a melodic death metal band from Greece, is a band that, unfortunately, tried too hard to be under the guidelines of their particular genre. They are the perfect example of a band who is a slave to the music they're trying to create, as if they're too nervous or hesitant on making anything that hasn't been heard before.

To the band's credit, though, they are pre-full-length album, this release being an EP that only features three songs that total about 12 minutes. But I can't help but get past the way this band sounds--generic.

The album begins with what I think to be the weakest song here: The Martyrdom Altar. We open with a promising-enough riff that sounds like it could be a guitar intro to a Megadeth song, and when the ball starts rolling, so to speak, you're hit with a particular riff (this being around the 40 second mark) that's nice and flashy, a good hook. It's at this point I think hey, this might turn out to be pretty good. But the riff goes on. And on. There are breaks in the pattern, but that same riff comes in again and again, and before long it starts to get annoying. And from there they continue to milk it and milk it, turning the riff into something ugly before the song closes. The breaks between the riff are pretty much a chug-fest, accompanied by unvaried machine-gunning from the drums. The vocalist comes off as particularly irritating, but there is defenitely a strong effort put forth. His vocals are a rattly shriek, and this is what you'll hear for most of the album. They don't seem to be able to hold any note for more than a second or two, and they come off as fairly amateur. These vocals are accompanied by random snippets of melodic singing that come and go without warning or reason. I guess it's to add variety, but the melodic vocals are just so oddly placed and barely show their face for more than three consecutive seconds, as if the band was worried that people would think they were pussies if they pressed their luck on vocals that don't sound like a cat being stepped on.

Instrumentally, this band is competent enough, never doing anything overly flashy or insane, but doing enough that you know they can play their instruments well. The guitars do a lot of palm-muted chuggy riffs, but they shoot off a melodic riff every now and again, as well as pretty nice solo sections that usually steal the show for the song that's being played. The drums are good too, but there are passages where, say, the snare is overused, or something along those lines. They don't do much besides keeping time, and the variety that they casually offer here and there is pretty refreshing. You can hear the bass guitar fairly well, but this is a guitar-and-vocals album, no doubt. The bass usually just keeps itself protected behind whatever the guitar is doing, and I don't recall it ever jumping over its boundary and playing its own thing. Buuuuuut it's at least a little audible, so that's good for me.

The next and final two songs are both better than The Martyrdom Altar, but not much. There is the odd riff that does stick in my mind here and there throughout the album, but mostly what we get is plodding on the guitars and average drumming. The album only really shines during the solo sections and places where the chugging guitars let up, but there aren't really too many of those. For the most part, this album is quite generic, maybe only amounting to being good material to bang your head to, or stuff you can rile up a mosh pit with. The whole thing sounds rather constricted, and as I said the band members seem tentative about trying anything creative. This album is basically just a chuggy, chunky melodeath album with odd snippets of good riffs and solos thrown in for good luck. Fortunately this EP only spans 12 minutes so it never wears on me too much, and the shining moments are easier to pick out among the three songs. There's nothing here that you couldn't get out of a Dark Tranquility album or a Soilwork album.

I think this band has boundary issues, plain and simple. They need to try to make something of themselves, rahter than inserting themselves into what already exists. They're blatant trend followers for the moment, and while I understand that this is a band with very little material who is only now emerging from the ground, I think that there's more that they could have done to make this a good EP. As I said though, there are good moments in this album that do sufficently prevent the music from being flat out bad, but even those feel somewhat constricted. I hope that this band figures out how to make the music their own, because for now this is a generic EP and a generic band with little to be found and much to be desired.