Almeida

Fantastic Massacre

Written by: PP on 21/06/2012 16:58:18

Southampton, UK-based Almeida dropped a bombshell of a debut album late last year called "Fantastic Massacre" which has been garnering hype in all corners of the internet as of late. The reason for the buzz is instantly clear as you pop on the record and the breakneck speed "Kinslayer" opens with a flurry of aggressive vocals, d-beat speed instrumentation, and technical guitars that rival Protest The Hero and Between The Buried And Me in their ambition. And that's just a taster, an introductory track of sorts, because later on the best description fitting the band is Between The Buried And Me on steroids and speed.

The manner in which this group thrashes and burns through insanely technical sections effortlessly and at such ridiculous speeds is a feat that needs to be heard, and given that it's coupled with catchy songwriting prowess a la Protest The Hero, I believe we have a winner in our hands. After all, mixing punk rock (A Wilhelm Scream style) together with post-hardcore, technical metalcore, and progressive metal isn't exactly an easy task to pull off, let alone do it as successfully as Almeida here.

That said, the imminent insanity that dominates the entirety of "Fantastic Massacre" can be a little bit too much at times. The soundscape is extremely busy, and your mind is constantly being twisted into yet another progressively more technical and unbelievable direction, so little space is available to properly absorb the songs. Basically, Almeida's music is the ultimate answer to the ADD generation of music; there's so much going on that it's impossible to be bored at any given moment. That can be a good thing as well, but here it comes at the cost of the overall song quality. Many tracks namely become nothing but displays of instrumental proficiency and ability to write killer guitar leads that transition into yet more killer guitar leads with nothing else in between. It's like listening to one insane guitar solo for 45 minutes straight. It's pretty awesome, but tiring in the long run.

7

Download: Kings In Contempt, Fantastic Massacre (A Heart-Wrenching Soliloquy About Me Feelins Fer Tugger)
For the fans of: Protest The Hero, Today I Caught The Plague, Sikth, Between The Buried And Me, early Avenged Sevenfold
Listen: Bandcamp

Release date 03.12.2011
Lockjaw Records

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