Album Review :
Final Surrender - Nothing But Void

How common is metal in Asia? Does anyone know? The genre of metal is a rare one to say the least, especially over in Asia. Final Surrender is one of the pioneers of the genre there. The Progressive metalcore act has been working hard on this album. Their debut album, Empty Graves, was released 4 years ago.

The album begins with the single “Nothing But Void”. The track brings elements of techno music, Progressive metalcore, and thrash metal. There is plenty of work going on with the drums and percussion. The track is a masterpiece of Progressive metal and metalcore.

“Inescapable” is the next song on this album. The song brings the breakdowns and headbanging sickness to say the least. The progression really shines through on this track, with slow melodic parts that sounds a lot like Tourniquet (“Phantom Limb” but not as Jazzy) and many Melodic Metalcore bands. The breakdown comes after the melodic pause and shows a side of the band that incorporates Deathcore.

“Walls of Silence” is a very face paced song, which sounds like August Burns Red with very Progressive parts. Very heavy, very fast. The song even seems to incorporate Southern Metal sounding guitars. Really enjoy it when bands do that.

“Exasperate” has some clean vocals. The track brings August Burns Red back to mind, with the melodic guitars, progressive drumming, and just the overall awe-inspiring sound of both bands. The cleans don’t clash the greatest where they come in, but they don’t make the track any less great.

“Failing Structures” brings the progressive metalcore to a brand new light. It almost sounds like they got a guest vocalist to feature in it at the beginning, because it doesn’t sound like Vocalist Joseph Samuel. The song features more Cleans, but who performs them is still unknown to me. ‘Picking up the pieces, that have come undone, My structure’s laid foundation, now found.’

“Altruistic Veneers” definitely shows the ABR sound more boldly than previously, but also a little bit of Dillinger Escape Plan. Metalcore is prominent in this song, though the Prog doesn’t really show as much.

“Tear Down the Walls” is the final song on the album. It is very industrial sounding. Like literally. In the beginning, there is no metal. The song almost sounded like a remix, until the non-muffled screaming came in. There are still record scratches in the background though, so progressive still applies here. Really weird song that reminds me of Deliverance. The post-thrash era of Deliverance.

Overall, the album is fantastic. If you like every song to sound different than the first, go purchase this. The album ventures into Progressive areas, I’ve never heard. Most specifically “Tear Down the Walls”. Weird song, but enjoyable.

Sounds Like: August Burns Red, Deliverance, The Dillinger Escape Plan