Band: Becoming the Archetype
Album: Dichotomy
Label: Solid State Records
Review by: Stephen M
To begin, I would like to note that I do not claim to be an objective, professional music critic or anything of that sort. I am one who enjoys listening to music. Any reviews by me are merely my opinion on an album and are not intended to be taken as the product of a well-educated aficionado. I apologize for any out-of-hand generalizations or music prejudices. Any criticism and comments are welcome (and much needed). That said…
Brutal, Melodic, Groovy and Superb. I had high expectations with this release, and I can say all those expectations were met, dare I say, even surpassed.
“Dichotomy.” Dichotomy is the teaching that humans consist of two parts, the body and the soul. Throughout this CD when you are hearing the words and reading the lyrics you will see this theme is consistently brought up. Dichotomy’s lyrics are uplifting and very realistic. This album talks about things that we need to do differently from how the world does them, and how we are so blind to some of the things in this world. Here is an example from the song “Dichotomy,” “They exchanged the incorruptible for the image of fallen man worshiped creature rather than creator the image rather than his hand.” I love the song writing in this CD and you can tell it comes from the heart.
Dichotomy has so much melody and continuity throughout their songs you will be left with your jaw dropped. “Mountain of Souls” is a great example of this. Jason’s range on his vocals will have you picking up your mouth off the floor while the guitarist is playing a catchy riff that will be in your head the rest of the day. There is so much variety on here, everyone who likes metal will enjoy it. It has a great feel with the Metal/hardcore sound that BTA is familiar with and it has some slow stuff that will amaze you. After listening to this CD, I was left asking myself, “Is this actually BTA?” With their latest release they have gone from great to amazing.
One of the things that I enjoyed most about this album is BTA’s ability to take an old hymn like “How great thou art” and throw in some sweet riffs and a raspy voice and make it a very original song. The album is a great buy and has a great sound. With this, BTA fans will be listening to this album over and over for months, I will be anyways.
1. Mountain of Souls
2. Dichotomy
3. Artificial Immorality
4. Self Existent
5. St Annes Lullaby
6. Ransom
7. Evil Unseen
8. How Great Thou Art
9. Deep Heaven
10. End of the Age
Standout Tracks; Mountain of Souls, How Great Thou Art, Dichotomy
Overall 8.5/10
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