sent by
crash_override:
As Cities Burn - Son, I Loved You At Your Darkest
Progressive metalcore is always a surprise in some ways for me: I never know if there's going to be little avant elements that creep into the atypical angst or if I'll be merely astounded by the technicality of what blares from my speakers.
Anyway, As Cities Burn seem to be somewhere in between these two expectations I normally have, which is interesting in and of itself. Time changes abound nicely throughout tracks such as 'Of Want And Misery' which reflects the "prog" part of the tag, whilst a piece such as 'Love Jealous One' proves they aren't averse to playing things straight either. In other words, there's a nice balance in some ways between certain ideas within the compositions.
On a final note, the melodic elements are reminiscent to me of certain mainstream acts that you associate with -core anything, but that's not bad at all really. As one who has outgrown a need for angsty music to serve as an outlet of any kind, the fact this bunch can vary their tempo is quite welcome indeed to these jaded ears.
Fun album, so thanks Crashy!
