Society’s Plague Call to the Void out April 27, 2018 on Eclipse Records
by Kyle Kryst
Switching up between segments of solid brutality, gorgeous melodic patterns, and transcending synth backings is the hold nothing back melodic metal band, Society’s Plague, hailing out of Lexington, KY. Known for, “utilizing a unique blend of melodic death metal elements, dueling guitar harmonies, and infectious keyboard and orchestral arrangements, Society’s Plague has created a sound fondly sought after by their steadily growing fan base.” Their newest album is set to be aired on the radio by April 10th of this year and then fully released on April 27th through Eclipse Records. This album features guest vocals from Bjorn “Speed” Strid of Soilwork, and also features a previous member of Society’s Plague, Michael Smith. “Call to the Void is a powerful album containing ten brand new songs featuring screaming guitar riffs, pummeling beats, and melodic harmonies. In all simplicity, it’s a defining moment in the band’s career, and no fan of metal music will want to miss out on it,” which is definitely a description that I wholeheartedly concur with.
Starting off their newest album, Call to the Void, is the intro track titled “Ashes For Air”. A short drum beat quickly fades in to start off the album, in which it is instantly followed by an elongated growl backed by a quick line of guitar to get things going. Vocal growls begin their delivery, with a high pitched melodic guitar riff and consistent drum beat, up until some clean vocals and raspy vocals mix in for variety. A chuggy melodic guitar riff then takes over to follow the drum beat, with transitions between vocal types with guitar changes. Synth backings are also utilized intermittently throughout this track. This then goes into a melodic guitar focused instrumental break, and as the instruments start to fade out a screamed line of vocals belts out to pick up the tempo, and transitions back into some vocal variety. Blast beat drums start to pick up with synths to back up quickly performed vocals to then quickly fade out, which brings us to the next track, “Whispers”. A slow and low pitched strike of keys from the keyboard quickly fades in to form a pattern, initiating the start. The guitar starts to begin a riff to take over the focus of the instruments with backing guitar riffs. Chugs then begin to pick up as a slow delivery of growls activate, which leads to a melodic guitar riff that takes over as a mix of cleans and growls transition in. Chugs pick back up for a slow, spaced out delivery of growls up to the point of a melodic instrumental break, which takes over with a focus on guitar. The drums start to pick up in tempo with chugs as growls pick back up into a transitioning between melodic and chuggy patterns, with the vocals subsequently reflecting the patterns. A dual vocal performance then takes over once again, with a intertwined chuggy melodic instrumental pattern, until the keyboard synth from the beginning takes back over to fade out the track. Their awe inspiring compositions very much so add continuity in this way. Continuing with a bleating pattern of horn sounding synths to open up their next composition is “Distant Waves”. A melodic guitar riff, and a steady somewhat quick drum beat, then make their presence known to overpower the synths. This switches to a chuggy guitar riff that starts to pick up as brutal death growls activate. There is a vocal variety of squeals, cleans, and growls intertwining as well in this track as some high pitched synths chime their way through. A chug induced and melodic guitar pattern takes over, with clean power vocals and screamed end lines, until some vocal growls take back over as fast tempo chugs pick back up. The clean and growl vocals intertwine once again until the tempo fades out for the bridge, as some chiming synths renter, with a mixture of clean power and growl vocals. A melodic guitar riff focused instrumental break then precedes to take over to pick up the tempo. Death growls then start picking up to back up instrumentals until it transitions to fast chugs and blastbeat drums, with clean power vocals and end scream lines once again. A synth keyboard pattern starts filling up the background with a deep growl call out, as blast-beats fade out eventually with synths. I picked up a major Korn influence on this track, which really beefed up their musical variety in addition.
A slow paced and melancholy induced keyboard pattern slowly fades in to start off the next song “The Fall”. A guitar slide kicks in, as a fast paced drum pattern begins that includes a belting out of scream vocals. Melodically induced chugs start forming to match the drums, as a synth induced pattern on the keyboard kicks in to pick up the pace of the vocals, with intermittent guitar chugs included. Melodic chugs take the lead, with a spaced out release of vocals and blast-beat drums, up until a melodic guitar riff takes place of the chugs, as clean power vocals enter to shortly take over. A heavily synth induced pattern takes over on keys, with intermittent guitar chugs and a matching drum pattern to back up the vocalist’s deep death growls. An elongated guitar riff with spaced out drum beat takes over for the break, up into some deep spaced out death growls entering. A fast paced melodic guitar riff takes back over the break with a consistent drum beat backing. The synths then jump back in to back up the spaced out death growls, and then take back over to fade out the track. “Broken By Design” is up next, and keeps interest going with a fast paced drum beat in addition of consistent guitar chugs starting off right out of the gate, up until a melodic guitar riff takes the main focus. The instruments start to form a brutal mid-tempo chuggy pattern, as a belting of death growls enter the mix. This then transitions into blastbeats for the last line of each vocal verse to build up the intensity. Blast-beats take back over momentarily with elongated vocal backings, until another melodic guitar pattern builds up as raspy power vocals take off. This transitioning occurs a couple more times, up until a melodic pattern with intermittent chugs picks up for a slow release of death growls. A melodic instrumental break then takes over at a fast pace to lead into a synth induced horn pattern that takes the focus with a backing mid-tempo drum beat. Melodic guitar takes back the focus with bell chime synths and blast-beats to back up the vocalists raspy power vocals. A solid death growl continues to lead on a fade out of the instruments, which leads to “Paramnesia”. A slow moving keyboard pattern fades in to start the track off, with high pitched guitar strums and a slow tempo drum pattern entering to pick up the intensity. Grimy death growls then gradually fade in to take the focus, with backing melodic styled chugs until it transitions to clean power vocals with a keyboard pattern backing the drums. Chugs pick back up to lead the death growls, which then transitions back toward the previous pattern. The instruments slowly build down in
intensity as clean vocals start spreading in with a slight synth backing. The guitarist starts picking back up a slow paced melodic structure to back the cleans. Drums then pick up with a slow release of death growls into a keyboard pattern that takes over to start fading out. Guitar and drums quickly reenter with raspy power vocals, which leads to an elongated scream to quickly die down in intensity.
“Fear Is Failure”, the continuing track, starts out with a high pitched main guitar line with backing rhythm guitar and a steady drum beat. This quickly transitions into a chuggy rhythm, with a backing of synthetic strings, as a release of death growls with intermittent clean power vocals initiate. A melodic structure takes the lead with chugs as back up, until it transitions back to chugs with clean power vocals. As soon as the bell chime synths join in they transition back to growls. Chugs become elongated with the vocalists growls mirroring, and transitions between growls and cleans a couple more times to have synthetic sounding strings lead a slow paced and spread out instrumental break. The intensity picks back up with a chiming of bell synths and drums, as vocals switch between elongated raspy power vocals and growls to slowly fade out the track. A swell of synths backed by a quick keyboard pattern fades in to open up the track titled Abomination (feat. Michael Smith)”. Intermittently quick guitar chugs, with blast-beats, precede to join in to build up the intensity of the track. Clean slightly muted vocals then join in to follow the instruments, with melodic guitar chugs joining in to back up some growls as the tempo starts to pick up. Drums then pick up with quickly executed guitar chugs for the break. The guitarist has some chugs start spacing out as a mixture of raspy vocals and growls join in, to the point where the song transitions back into a break, with a pattern of synthetic bell chimes backed by chugs and drums. This then transitions back to the melodic pattern backed by growls, with intermittent cymbal strikes, and
a mid-tempo drum pattern. Intensity for the track then halts down with deep mirrored whisper vocals until the chugs once again pick back up for a slow release of growls, with a mid-tempo drum pattern to end the song off.
“Dusk”, the next track, is an instrumental that immediately takes off with a desolate sounding steel-string
acoustic guitar riff. What sounds like an accompanying steel-stringed acoustic guitar shortly joins in, with a quicker and more melodic sounding riff, to back up the main pattern. A synthetic swell of strings then quietly joins in to build up the song structure until its immediate ending, which brings us to the closing song titled “Rise Of The Eidolon”. A synthetic horn blare opens up to a solid drum beat paired with a spread out guitar riff and synthetic strings to open up. The intensity dies down gradually as deep growls make their entrance, up until the growls pick up in intensity with a mirrored following of instruments. The pattern then starts to spread out, with bigger drum rolls and elongated notes, as clean power vocals take over for a verse. A slight guitar focused break then picks back up in intensity for a releasing of growls for a verse, with an inclusion of consistent chugs and a quick drum pattern. The intensity slightly dies down, with more melodic influence, for a duel release of clean power vocals and growls. A steel stringed acoustic guitar riff then takes over shortly, until an elongated chug cuts in to have clean power vocals lead a quick and heavy drum pattern, with a mirrored guitar riff, until the instruments then fade out.
Blends of different genres are usually what I keep an eye out for in unexplored bands, and Society’s Plague are a highly prime example of exactly this. Not only do they keep their tracks of interest in this way, but their musical compositions are also on point with mirroring their vocals with certain patterns, and also their transitioning through different styles in each track. “Call To The Void” is a powerful composition that should be bringing this band some well deserved recognition, so be sure to stay prepared for their release!
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