Band: Divide the Sea
Title: Man
Label: Blood & Ink Records
Release Date: 2010
Review By: Steve
Track Listing:
- Imperfect: Perfection
- In Knowing, Triumph
- Jeremiah Johnson
- Dancin’ With The Devil
- Glory Hallelujah!
- Let It Rain
- The Last Lament Of The Prophet Habakkuk
- Spirit Of The Wolf
- Israel Oh Israel! These Be Thy Gods!
- Fallen! Fallen Is Babylon The Great!
- The Adulterous Hunt
- Saved Alone
Never in my life would I have ever thought I would hear a banjo on a metal album! What is the world coming to? What is next, polka-metal with accordions (lets hope not)? Actually, Divide the Sea can actually pull off the banjo with their take of southern fried metal. They sound like a cross between Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster and Norma Jean. Odd combination but it works on Man.
I really like the theme behind this album. Divide the Sea explains the meaning of Man on their MySpace page, “We believe there is a journey to be taken to fully understand what it means to be a MAN. That journey starts first with a realization of a need for a relationship with God. Only through a relationship with God and an understanding of His character, can we understand and implement His true masculinity into our lives.”
Divide the Sea is a five-piece metal band out of South Carolina and another great pickup for Blood & Ink Records. Musically, Divide the Sea is extremely talented and kind of put their name on southern mathcore with a banjo here and there. The drums are extremely heavy and pummeling at times. The guitar riffs are great and give off a chaotic vibe that keeps you from getting bored. The breakdowns are heavy and well placed. This is definitely an album that will get you up out of your seat and moving around.
As far as vocals, it is amazing to hear such powerful screams come out of a little dude (no offense to Caleb, I am 6’5” so almost everyone is little to me). He may be short, but Caleb is an excellent front man with powerful pipes. There are some raw clean vocals on this album but instead of taking away from the track, they add to the muscular nature of Man. I am glad to see that Divide the Sea decided to stay with the raw vocals instead of going the autotune route (If I have to listen to another autotuned album I am going to loose it!).
As far as lyrics go this album reminds me a lot of what Psalms would be like if King David was a metal head. Needless to say, these songs are great worship laden tracks. It is hard to imagine starting a pit with worship music but Divide the Sea will definitely get you moving. The best songs on Man are “Jeremiah Johnson,” “The Adulterous Hunt,” and “Saved Alone.” These tracks are some of the heaviest tracks, and the lyrics really spoke to my spirit in regards to some of the personal issues that I am encountering in my life. It is not often that I find metal that is heavy and edifying at the same time.
Overall: Divide the Sea has put forth an extremely solid Blood & Ink debut album. These guys do a masterful job of mixing some excellent musicianship and powerful vocals into an excellent southern fried metal album. After listening to this album, I feel a need to go eat some chicken fried steak!