Artist: Arsis
Label: Willowtip Records
Release Date: 3/29/04
Rating: 5 Skulls
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Title: A Celebration of Guilt Artist: Arsis Label: Willowtip Records Release Date: 3/29/04
Rating: 5 Skulls |
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Reviewed by Martyr (7/16/04):
When was the last time that you went to a show, and were completely blown away by a band that you had never seen or heard of before? I experienced this very situation not even a week ago. It was a pretty shitty Monday afternoon weatherwise, and the last thing I wanted to do was go to a show after a lonnnng weekend of barbecuing and debauchery . . . it turned out to be very worth it. I bring this Arsis review to you from a very fresh memory.After a 45 minute drive consisting of yelling at pedestrians, cursing at unfamiliar streets and driving on the wrong side of the Charles . . . we arrived at the venue and met up with a few guys that were playing this very show and shot the shit for a while. A friend of my significant other was here in Boston because of a death in the family and I am assuming that he knew of Arsis, needless to say, I'm sure that he had a great time. After a couple of bands went on, one of which did an At the Gates cover, Arsis was ready to take over the stage.
The crowd was amazingly rowdy for such a small place and everyone was into it. The three gentlemen had a stage presence that was very menacing but not overdone at all. The vocalist/guitarist James Malone was belting out some pretty insane gratuitous solos, not even missing a note. Arsis' drummer Michael Van Dyne was ripping it up pretty well, that dude isn't sub par by any means. After their set was over, a few of us stood outside for a smoke and came to the agreement that what we had just experienced was indeed impressive. Arsis is a band along the melodic death metal vein, which is a genre that has been done and re-done over the past 15 years. These guys definitely bring a fresh sound to it all, with ridiculously crazy solos and just overall amazing style. As far as I know, these guys are from Virginia (if I'm wrong, I'm sorry) and during this tour they were already low on cash; I recommend giving them support, they were definitely worth the money spent on the show and CD, if not more. The label's website is posted above for ordering information. Touring is difficult these days and to survive it, you need people to dig what you do and be willing to support you. Obviously they had to be good enough for me to even care to write a review of a band's CD that I hadn't even received from the MJ crew! Actually, now that I'm looking in the CD booklet, Metal Judgment is thanked . . . and they even spelled it right. As far as this CD goes: think Old Man's Child meets melodic death with a hint of doom, which conjures up something pretty damn original.
The artwork in this album was recognizable to me right away. If you are at all familiar with Pit magazine you might also recognize the imagery depicting rotting corpses, dripping entrails and other horrors, fun stuff right? Overall, this album is brutal and fast. I'm a junkie for solos and my fix was definitely satisfied with this album. I highly recommend checking out A Celebration of Guilt and I can only hope that you take my word for it. This album deserves Five Fucking Skulls.
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