Alterbeast to release ‘Feast’ via Unique Leader Records on February 23rd |
Review by Kyle Kryst
Chaotic yet aesthetically pleasing is precisely how I describe Alterbeast’s sophomore album titled
“Feast”. With Andrew Lamb on guitar/synth, Trivium’s Alex Bent on drums, and Michael Alvarez on
vocals they were able to produce an album in which they, as Andrew said, “poured [their] hearts, souls,
hate, and malice into.”
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The long awaited album, since 2014, titled “Feast” is set to be released February 23 of 2018 via Unique
Leader Records. Zach Ohren of Sharkbite Studios engineered and mixed this 9 track album while John
Scrip from Massive Mastering respectively took care of the mastering. “Feast showcases Alterbeast’s
most interesting material to date. With their distinctive mix of old school melodic shred and blistering,
modern death metal the band has unleashed an album that will keep fans headbanging from start to
finish.”
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Starting off this beast of an album is their track “Welcome to Your Doom”. Musical variety is one of
the things done perfectly by this band, as this song opens up with some snazzy, jazzy sounding
keyboard which then quickly gets backed up by some crazy fast guitar licks. There is also a full assault
of blast-beat drums laid out as Alvarez delivers his death growls. This track also features an uptempo
instrumental break with a main focus on guitar, which is a solid addition. “The Maggots Ascension”
continues the album with an opening of some fast guitar riffs until a drum pattern picks up and an
elongated call out joins. Uptempo guitar chugs are the main feature of this track until the tempo slows
down for the bridge, but then builds up in intensity and tension until it transitions into some melodic
guitar slides. Sound effects of buzzing flies/maggots end the track off, which definitely ties the title to
the track.
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Next up is “Black Flame Illumination”. This track features uptempo guitar strums and Bent on drums
going “beast mode”. There is also a good variety of vocals, in which the elongated screams are put into
juxtaposition with the quick delivery of instruments. Following next is “Feast” in which more sound
effects are utilized. This track starts off with a sound effect of someone starting up a chainsaw backed
by some chaotic sounding finger picking. This then transitions into high pitched guitar chugs with a
fast drum pattern, keeping up the mechanical sounding effects. The instrumental breaks are nicely
spaced out and includes guitar riffs that sound straight up like a buzz-saw. The tempo then dwindles
down as the instruments fade out for the end. “Vile Skin Possession” keeps it going with heavy guitar
riffs that quickly build with volume until a juicy elongated squeal backed by drums begins. Song
structure is impeccable on this track as well since the elongated screams are intertwined with elongated
instrumentals.
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Speaking of song structure, “Apex Night Eclipse”, definitely showcases Alterbeast’s musical variety
for the album, as it is a prime example of their talents. Intensely fast guitar riffs and blast beat snare
drums start it off as an insanely fast delivery of death growl vocals follows their instrumentals to the T.
Harmonic guitar patterns with metallic high pitched sound effects back up the verses, while melodic
piano keystrokes back up their chaotic sounding instruments for the chorus respectively. This track is
packed full of energy throughout, and sounds like a soundtrack to hell (in the best way possible).
“Coffin Crescendo” continues the album by begim1ing with some brutal guitar chugs highlighted by
elongated vocals, which then intermix with Alvarez’s quick release of beefy screams. Melodic guitar
riffs backs up the chorus into the break, as the drums follow suit. There is a main focus on guitar for the
break, until it transitions back to chugs for the remainder.
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Next up is a cover of Dissection’s “Where Dead Angels Lie”. A few riffs that sounds like an electronic
acoustic guitar opens the song up until it transitions into heavy guitar riffs and a blast of double bass
pedals for a good sized instrumental opening. As this is a cover song, the structure is a lot more
symphonic, especially for the guitar and delivery of vocals. A few instrumental breaks were masterfully
intertwined throughout to break up the length just a tad. They definitely give this track their own sound
however, and it turned out better than the original in my opinion. This brings us to the closing track
titled “Upon The Face Of The Deep”. Fast guitar chugs backed by quick repetition of drums open up
their closer, as an addition of quickly spoken but spaced out vocals enters the mix. This then transitions
into a much quicker delivery until a decent sized melodic guitar instrumental break begins. One more
transition brings us back into chaos to close up their album.
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All in all, I thought that the entirety of “Feast” definitely showed off Alterbeast’s musical skills as they
showcased all of their different song structures, vocal variety, perfect usage of sound effects, and a total
mastering of their instruments into it. If death metal is up your alley, then I would wholeheartedly
recommend this album to everyone.
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Physical and digital pre-order bundles for ALTERBEAST’s new album “Feast” are available HERE.
ALTERBEAST announced a month long headlining Feast Winter Tour in support of the effort. Support will be coming from The Grindmother, Inferi (2/22-3/16), The Kennedy Veil (2/17-2/20), and Aethere.
ALTERBEAST w/ The Grindmother, The Kennedy Veil, and Aethere
2/17 Petaluma, CA @ The Phoenix Theater
2/18 Santa Ana, CA @ Malones
2/19 Las Vegas, NV @ The Church
2/20 Mesa, AZ @ The Underground
ALTERBEAST w/ The Grindmother and Aethere
2/21 El Paso, TX @ Rock House Kitchen
ALTERBEAST w/ The Grindmother, Inferi, and Aethere
2/22 Austin, TX @ Dirty Dog Bar
2/23 Corpus Christi, TX @ Boozerz Rock Bar
2/24 Big Spring, TX @ Desert Flower Art Bar
2/25 Ft. Worth, TX @ Tomcats West
2/27 Memphis, TN @ Hi Tone Cafe
2/28 Nashville, TN @ The East Room
3/01 St. Louis, MO @ Fubar Lounge
3/02 Barrington, IL @ Penny Road Pub
3/03 Madiwson, WI @ The Annex
3/04 Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews
3/06 Denver,CO @ Roxy Theater
3/08 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Loading Dock
3/09 Boise, ID @ The Shredder
3/10 Spokane, WA @ The Pin
3/11 Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
3/13 Portland, OR @ Analog Theater
3/14 Grants Pass, OR @The Sound Lounge
3/15 Santa Cruz, CA @ Catalyst
3/16 Sacramento, CA @ Holy Diver
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For more on the band, visit them here on Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
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