### Xerath: II

#### 30/06/11 || Khlysty

Do you like Jerry Goldsmith? James Horner? Hans Zimmer? Actually, do you like film scores, in general? If you do, then I bet you a jillion euros that while listening to Xerath, you’ll find here and there hints and references to some of the greatest film music composers. Why is that? ‘Cause, see, these guys are a fucking HUUUUUGE influence to these limeys, who manage to mix and mash orchestral passages with Meshuggah-inflected stutter-metal and some catchy riffery that reminds me of emo, but in a very positive way. Add to the mix some nods toward death metal and prog metal, and, voilà, Xerath in a nut. Sounds cool, no?

Well, yes and no. On the one hand, I cannot but admire the way these guys manage to mix all those disparate sound elements into a cohesive and extremely listenable (and headbangable) whole. The songs here are complex and noisy and time-signature-fucking-around-ish enough to talk to the hearts of listeners who enjoy chromaticism and 7/8 or 17/16 time signatures (mind you, I don’t really know if these are actually rhythmic patterns used by the band…). Also, the riffs are pretty catchy for all their complexity and carpal-tunnel-inducing demands. Plus, the orchestral parts are not surface embellishments, but vital parts for the development of each song.

As for the Meshuggah name-checking, Xerath is less noisy, clang-y and aneurysm-bursting-complex than the Swedes, even though they, too, use enough polyrhythmic fuckery and detours into atonality and dissonance. In my eyes (ehm, ears, actually), Xerath sounds like a more melodic and linear Meshuggah-SYL hybrid. Is this a bad thing? Absolutely no; it’s pretty exciting to listen to songs that address equally the mind and the body AND be pretty catchy, too. Plus, the jazz-inflected leads on some songs are a balm for sore ears. The problems start to appear after a coupla spins of “II”; namely, the songs seem to go on for longer than they should. Such music, for all its complexity and hairpin-turns, has to be either pulverizingly heavy or more concise to keep my interest unwavering. And, to tell you the truth, after a while I started fast-forwarding the songs, or, even worse, the songs started blurring into each other.

Another thing that bothers me is the clean vocals that appear –thankfully not very often- during some songs. The raspy howl that’s the main vocal approach is pretty okay, but the cleans are whimpy and they remind me a lot emocore/metalcore, which is a VERY bad thing. Guys, stick to the bad-ass vocals and you’ll be okay. Production-wise, “II” is so fine that I wept with joy: clean, clear, full of bite and personality, it’s perfect for the music displayed here. Anyway, bottom line is that Xerath create interesting, powerful and complex music that will appeal both to calculus-loving musicophiles, headbangers and friends of film music. If you like all three kinds of music, then “II” is just your poison.

- Information
- Released: 2011
- Label: Candlelight Records
- Website: xerath.net
- Band
- Richard Thomson: vocals
- Owain Williams: guitars
- Christopher Clark: bass
- Michael Pitman: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Unite to Defy
- 02. God of the Frontlines
- 03. Reform Part III
- 04. The Call to Arms
- 05. Machine Insurgency
- 06. Sworn to Sacrifice
- 07. Enemy Incited Armageddon
- 08. Nuclear Self Eradication
- 09. Numbered Among the Dead
- 10. The Glorious Death (I. Divine Rapture / II. A New Awakening)