Customer Reviews

Eventuality

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

 

 

While nu-metal, melodic death, and metalcore continue to bury all the credible elements of metal, I cannot help being enthusiastic and optimistic because of the continual emergence of free-thinking and hard-working bands who reinvent what it means to be dexterous and innovative.

And what other genre is so perfectly and completely defined by these two elements, than jazz?

With Eventuality, Alarum joins the ranks of Atheist, Ephel Duath, Psyopus, Aghora, Spiral Architect, and a crop of other classic and more contemporary bands, in demonstrating why metal may be the only mainstream genre which consistently deconstructs preconceptions about what music is.

What plagues some of these technical bands, though, is what seems to be a forced purpose. The previously mentioned bands have made names for themselves because the progressions of their songs seem natural, and a a true sum of their parts' influences and personalities.

Eventuality possesses this exact kind of character. Isolated and blended moments of death, grind, thrash, jazz, prog-rock, prog-metal, power metal, hard rock, ambient, and many other styles never suffer from oil and water syndrome, because Alarum, as experimental as its nature may be, has a clear sense of purpose.

So just as the musical influences are broad in scope, so to are the ways in which the band executes the songs. As you would expect, there are stylistic and time changes aplenty, but the band members weave between technically complex runs, groovier and more simplistic chord progressions, bass-led, guitar-led, keyboard-led moments, inhumanly fast soloing, discriminately sparse, yet melodic soloing, and the list goes on forever.

It is funny how innovation has, and continues to run life here on earth, yet it seems popular art forms, especially music, are so pathetically static, at least in the manifestations most accessible to the masses. Luckily for us metalheads, even within the company of an unprecedented number of diluting bands, the metal genre shows no signs of completely succumbing to mediocrity. Combining historically complex musical styles with the talent and ability to pull it off, Alarum ensures that future generations of metalheads will not have to live in a world of MeTalV.

The label's press release for this album describes it as the next Cynic "Focus," which couldn't be a more apt comparison, amazingly enough. Another band that inevitably comes to mind is Spiral Architect. I'm not sure if this album takes things any further than Cynic did over ten years ago, and it doesn't seem to have the monumental complexity of Spiral Architect, but it's certainly one impressive slab of jazz-infused metal. Rarely is there even a hint of anything approaching pure metal-- every moment is drenched in jazz. The more metallic parts sound a lot like Death and usually occur along with the vocals, which alternate between nice clean singing and raspy croaking something like Chuck Schuldiner on "Symbolic" or the vocalist from Believer. These parts are usually a little more straightforward than the rest, which works well. Vocalists in a lot of technical metal bands end up sounding out of place and a little ridiculous, trying to keep up with the music, but Alarum avoids this problem. Jazzy guitar solos are jammed into every possible place-- essentially at any moment without vocals. I usually find solos a little boring in metal, but the ones on here are all excellent. My favorite parts, as with Cynic, are the sections of pure jazz. The production, of course, is amazingly clear. My only complaint, and it's a minor one, is that the material on here is just a little too clean and smooth to provide any surprises--I would have preferred a few more rough edges and a little more weirdness-- but anyone who has enjoyed any of the projects that the two Sean's from Cynic have been involved in (Aghora, Gordion Knot, etc.) will love this. The 20 minutes of dead silence in the last song is just plain annoying, however-- I hate silly contrivances of that kind.

ALARUM - Eventuality

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For anyone else feeling the void left from the Jazz, Tech-Metal greats such as Death, Cynic and Atheist... I say with confidence, this is Your Band! Australia's Alarum has pushed the envelope as hard as any of the previously mentioned bands with there debut Eventuality. What gives them their edge is they also add a perfect texture of melody.

DIVERSITY PEOPLE! It is Important! Songs like `Receiver' and `Remote Viewing' have these beautiful, fulfilling guitar melodies... Whereas `Inertial Grind' is Old School Speed/Death Metal fused with a catchy chorus.

Musically, these guys are pretty much raising the bar for `Talent'. In fact I find it difficult to remember such musically ability unleashed on a debut album... (Well, maybe DEP's Calculating Infinity...) The Guitar work is absolutely fantastic... some of the jazziest, craziest and downright kick ass solos I've heard. The Bass work is often quite busy as well... seldom does he perform just a simple backdrop to the Guitars usually he is going just as balls out as they are. Also he handles the Vocals which are good but not yet great.... I feel with a little voice instruction has tons of potential. His `Metal' voice is reminiscent of the late Chuck Schindler and his softer voice often uses some effects to blend it into the music. Last but certainly not least, the Drumming is phenomenal, switching from one complex beat to the next... with styles ranging from Jazz and Rock to Metal and Grind.

All I can say is if you enjoy Complex Jazz Inspired Technical Metal (That was a mouthful...) You owe it to yourself to checkout this bands Stunning Debut.

Favorite Songs: Receiver, Woven Imbalance, Remote Viewing and Inertial Grind

-5 Stars

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This music is a must for anyone looking for complex music along the pathways of Cynic. Alarum, like Cynic, are a cut above most bands. I don't like to see the Cynic reference with every band that create this kind of music, but I am using the Cynic reference to let other people (you) know that they can expect excellent music with Alarum. Also, this is a 5 star piece of work, and I don't really see why the other reviewer gave this 4 stars. . Canvas Solaris are another excellent band.

This band is amazing. One of the best I have heard in the Tech Metal genre b/c they actually have a sense of melody. Just one thing tho...and I'm sure this will catch flak. The whole thing about these Tech Metal bands using Jazz. Well...I guess they incorporate ELEMENTS of Jazz. I used to be like many others and think that just because something was played cleanly with some out of the ordinary chord voicings that it was jazz. But one day I started listening to Jazz full time and discovered that it had nothing at all to do with my preconceived notions of what it sounded like. So to think that you will put in this cd and it will feature a Bebop combo jamming to Yardbird Suite in the middle of a death metal breakdown...no. Not even close.

This band to me is like a better version of Cynic. I'm sure Cynic is a big inspiration to these guys but they have bettered their forefathers. They have a thrashy-fusion sound with clean and yelled vocals. The vocals aren't too bad, they are better than hardcore but not death metal standard, the non-clean vocals that is. The music is very tight and precise, the drummers skills stand out. The music is creative, there are many acoustic fusion parts. Alarum mixes talent with creativity, they are 2 things alot of great bands have trouble doing sometimes. If you are into heavy prog, I'd recommend this for you. If you dwell strictly in thrash,death, or black metal or don;t like harsh vocals this isn't for you. These guys have good melodies and some good riffing, they have skill but don't play like prisses. Overall this is a good album in my opinion. Standout songs for me are Velocity and Receiver, these songs showcase what the band can accomplish best. Technical Fusion from down under mates, Enjoy.

this would be AWESOME if it wasnt for the singer. the guitars sound PERFECT. the singer sounds like godsmack or something.

Comparisons to Atheist and Cynic are inevitable, though I personally don't believe they're entirely deserved.

Both Cynic and Atheist had something that Alarum does not - mood and atmosphere. You could almost feel something mystical and transcendent going on in the backdrop on "Focus".. you could feel the spastic aggression on "Unquestionable Presence". On "Eventuality", all you can hear is perfectly executed technical almost-metal with ambient acoustic interludes that pop up every now and then but don't serve any particularly meaningful purpose.

The playing is excellent on all accounts - the guitars are all over the place, from thrashy riffing and wild soloing to jazzy chord progressions and tranquil acoustic pieces; the bass playing is top notch and very audible, which was a huge relief; the drumming is nuts, as you would come to expect in the technical metal world.

Then come the vocals, which are my first point of question. Sometimes the guy sings in an awkward clean voice over some acceptably heavy stuff, and then out of the blue he'll start screaming and raging over something that might have trouble passing as metal in the first place.. at least to some people. It doesn't make much sense.

Then there's the production. It's clean.. so clean.. and so not conducive to a genre such as this. I'm not saying that I like crappy production.. in fact, I love the wonderful instrument separation and crisp sounds that are found on Eventuality, but I think it could have been a bit beefier to get some more of the heaviness across. Also could've been more dynamic.

Basically, I look at Eventuality as a sterile version of Atheist in their later days. Very good, but could've been better.

Australia's Alarum are simply one of the best bands going around and this album really shows this. 4 virtuoso musicians creating complex, yet extremely musical songs that are technical yet sensitive. The perfect combination of death/ progressive metal and jazz influences i can not recommend this album highly enough.

For those that have been privileged enough to see them live, they are also one of the tightest bands you'll see.

Any fans of Cynic, Atheist, Watchtower, Spiral Architect.. or just good music in general should buy this album!

10/10