Review : BELIEVER – “Gabriel”

Believer – “Gabriel”
Released March 17, 2009 on Metal Blade

It seems as though all the classic progressive death and thrash bands have been reuniting lately to release new stuff. Cynic and Pestilence have already released albums and both Atheist and Watchtower have announced upcoming LPs. But what about Believer? Well, they are also back. Production-wise, this is, despite all of our technological advancements, a step back. There are some really great songs in there, but it’s such a thin sound. Aside from that, though, there are lots of cool things here. The different instruments sound great with lots of piano and synthesizers (and even fiddles on 2). The best part, however, would be the broad range of influences that they draw from. The most obvious ones would be Voivod, Atheist, and Focus-era Cynic. However, 4 and 9 take from Neurosis and Isis, respectively. 10 is also an interestingly cut track which sounds very similar to something Tool would do. 9 features Howard Jones (Killswitch Engage, Blood Has Been Shed) on vocals. 11 and 12 are short spoken pieces. 13 is a collage of sounds akin to the middle of Pink Floyd’s “Interstellar Overdrive”.

FCC: 10 (it’s instrumental but has spoken parts that are difficult to hear)
Try: 2, 3, *5*, 6, 7, *9*

01. Medwton
02. A Moment in Prime
03. Stoned
04. Redshift
05. History of Decline
06. The Need For Conflict
07. Focused Lethality
08. Shut Out the Sun
09. The Brave
10. Nonsense Mediated Decay
11. Untitled
12. Untitled
13. Untitled

Rating: