This album from the US band Bloodline Severed was presented to me as melodic Death Metal with a modern style, and that’s basically what it is.
The intro leads into ‘Reborn’, a decidedly Swedish-style track. It’s thunderous and melodic in its tone. Bloodline Severed are on the march. In common with all the tracks, it is heavy but upbeat, reflected in the evangelical lyrics: ‘I believed, you came and took my hand, you set me free’. This is significant to the band. The mix of growls and clean vocals, together with the musical style, reminded me strongly of Sonic Syndicate. ‘Coalition’ later on reinforced this impression. ‘A Vision Revealed’ is not as anthemic as ‘Reborn’. The screams and roars are there, the guitars focus on heaviness, and the track’s ‘message’ is in the chorus. The guitar work is chunky, but it’s all a bit kitsch and heading in the direction of anonymity. ‘Silhouette of Doubt’ has the quality of Soilwork in the way that the melody is picked off and exploited, but whilst there was good interplay between the elements, it did seem as if Bloodline Severed were operating to a formula here. By ‘Inception of Perspicacity’, I was coming to the conclusion that the clean vocals weren’t matching up to the brutal element, which frankly wasn’t that brutal.
The playing and the growls were fine, and the band do the right sorts of things for the genre, but it doesn’t add up to anything original. Opportunities are wasted. ‘Fear of Reality’ goes on for too long after enticing us with a strong and menacing rhythm, before slowing down and hitting us musically and vocally with a catchy chorus. ‘Mirror the Reflection’ starts with an interesting Middle Eastern rhythm, reminding me musically but not in theme of Arkan, whose combination of Arabic and melodic Death Metal sucked me in last year. Here the advantage is wasted, as the track becomes anonymous, standing up on the strength of a classic guitar solo. Only the last track ‘Once Empty’ is more rounded. A female singer with a Celtic voice is accompanied by quiet and colourful acoustic backing. The male vocalist enters and the two singers join forces. In comes the electric guitar and the growls. It could be accused of being overdone but this track at least deviates from the familiar formula and builds up nicely.
Bloodline Severed are a Christian band. Metal is the medium they use to deliver their message. Some don’t agree, but that’s fine with me and it’s certainly fine with the band. Unfortunately in spite of outward appearances ‘Visions Revealed’ is not powerful enough. Musically, I liked ‘Reborn’ and ‘Silhouette of Doubt’ in particular, but the album never threatened to set me on fire. Any semblance of brutality was washed away in anonymity and an absence of originality. Whilst ok, I find ‘Visions Revealed’ suffers from a lack of personality.
http://www.myspace.com/bloodlinesevered
http://www.bombworksrecords.com
http://www.myspace.com/bombworksrecords
