Customer Reviews

Become Death

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Godspeed was good this is one is better. They get better with each disc. they release. "Inside the Cast" is the best song on the disc and worth the disc alone. This kind of metal belongs on the radio not the screamo metal on the radio now.

Like a well oiled machine Symphorce keep pumping out 5 star albums with consistency and precision! 'Become Death' is no exception although it did take me a few spins to fully get into the album this time. That could be contributed to the fact that the album order is a little out of wack IMO.

There are many reasons I regard Symphorce as one of my top 10 bands in the current metal era. First, Symphorce's music has a lot of balls! While always melodic they never forget to add the aggression and always sound powerful! They also throw the rule book out the window as you can hear elements of trad metal, power, thrash, prog, nu, goth, and even deathmetal in there sound. Very original, unpredictable, and modern sounding too! Top it off with one of the very best metal vocalists period in Andy Frank!

Because of the albums diverse nature I will break down each song individually.

1. Darkness Fills the Sky - 10/10
Probably their heaviest song ever! A full on speed/thrash/death metal song that reminds me a lot of the song 'Born' from Nevermore's latest album 'TGE' Andy does a great job with some aggressive vocal stylings while never going into all out death metal growls or anything. This song is a masterpiece!

2. Condemned - 6.5/10
This is where I question the album order a bit. Condemned isn't neccessarily a bad track but one of the weakest off the album. A mid-tempo track that borrows too heavily from the song chorus from 'Everlasting Life' from the previous album and falls flat after the very impressive opener.

3. In the Hopes of a Dream - 7/10
Very different odd style semi-ballad type song that Symphorce likes to experiment with a lot. Overall a decent song, but should not have been selected the 3rd overall track?

4. Death has Come - 9/10
Symphorce picks it up again here with a nice fast thrashy track in vein of the opener. Great song!

5. Inside the Cast - 10/10
Wow, maybe the best chorus Symphorce have ever written! This should have been the 2nd track. A midtempo song with a slight goth feel. Another masterpiece of a song!

6. No Final Words to Say - 7/10
Another one of those odd semi type ballad songs. See 'In the Hopes of a Dream'

7. Towards the Light - 10/10
Along with track 1 and 5, another one of the albums true masterpiece songs! The chorus is just awesome and really every bit as good as 'Inside the Cast'.

8. Ancient Prophecies - 7.5/10
Cool guitar intro and a song with a real nice and heavy groove. The chorus is a little off but it does grow on you.

9. Lost but Found - 8/10
Good solid speedy number that reminds me a lot of '2 Seconds to Live' off one of their previous albums 'Twice Second'

10. Lies - 9/10
Another one of those odd type ballads only this time they hit the nail on the head with a very effective chorus that makes this a very good song.

After repeated listens I am tempted to say that this is Symphorce's best album to date. I won't because song for song this album is not as consistent throughout. However I do feel songs 'Darkness Fills the Sky', 'Inside the Cast' and 'Towards the Light' are possibly the finest 3 songs that the band have ever written! I also would have liked to hear Cede let loose on the solo's a little more. They are not quite up to par with the solo's on prior releases.

Definitely a top ten album for 2007!

This is Symphorce's 6th album & it is the 2nd consistent album in terms of the bands musical direction & production quality. It seemed to have taken Symphorce many albums to finally make a 5 star album with their last effort 'Godspeed,' but with 'Become Death' the band is still going strong & shows Symphorce's future is looking great! I would have to say that 'Godspeed' is better than this one, but if you really liked the last album then this one will live up to your expectations. One thing is for sure, this album definitely shows a darker side to the band like the album name & cover suggest. Buy it Symphorce fans!

I had originally written this band off as just another run of the mill power metal act, owing largely to the fact that they have a band name that practically screams "Rhapsody knock-off". Even the presence of Brainstorm frontman Andy Franck wasn't enough to get me to check out a Symphorce disc. Then in 2005 I had the pleasure of seeing the band perform live at the ProgPower USA VI festival, which totally threw my previous assumptions out the window. Symphorce's power and energy was undeniable, and put me in mind of old school Metal Blade acts like Armored Saint. Musically they struck me as a more streamlined (and heavier) version of Brainstorm. Needless to say, I became a Symphorce fan that day.

Become Death is the band's 2007 album, and at first I though the band had taken the title literally. Between the cover art and Andy's harsher vocal delivery on album opener Darkness Fills the Sky, I thought perhaps the band was moving into hybrid power/death metal territory like the band Mercenary. Well, the band didn't veer that far, but Become Death does have a darker and more aggressive energy that quite frankly the power metal genre just doesn't see enough of. It's a heavier, faster, and more "metal" album in all respects, and as a result is probably my favorite Symphorce album to date. Franck's vocals are in top form, as is the rest of the band, and bringing in Dennis Ward of Pink Cream 69 (another ProgPower USA VI performer) to produce was a big plus as well.

With Become Death, Symphorce puts the METAL back in power metal, and it's about time too. Besides, it can't be flowing shirts and songs about faeries and hobbits all the time, right?

Being a metal fan for years this newer band impresses me alot, great solid album.

This album, for a metal band is what i would call symphonic rock.Highly structured and produced,but it is very,very good.The songs are anthemic and grand in their presentation.A great metal album.