Adept

Silence The World

Written by: TL on 29/03/2013 21:23:33

Whatever you think of Swedish metalcore mob Adept, I think one has to recognise that they've done things the right way: Labouring from their formation in 2004 across demos and EP's until they finally had enough momentum to drop debut LP "Another Year Of Disaster" in 2009, subsequently finding their way on tour with their idols in Bring Me The Horizon and breaking themselves out of the remote corner of the scene from which they came and into a more European sphere of awareness. Still, while I've respected the band's commitment, I must admit that I felt my interest in them dwindle when they moved from "Another Year Of Disaster" to sophomore "Death Dealers".

Having always appeared the outcasts, raging full power against perceived betrayals in their local scene, I couldn't help but feel like Adept exorcized those demons on "Another Year", and moved on with a more forced bravado, which is the vague yet likely reason for me never really getting into "Death Dealers". And by that logic, I guess I should be apprehensive about this year's third album "Silence The World" as well, because my impression is that it only progresses the movement Adept initiated after "Another Year". The guitars - while thankfully staying melodic rather than trying to out-bleak or out-math the genre's trendier contemporaries - are chugging and shredding more frantically and heavily than ever, dragging the band further away from the screamo of yore and closer to the ranks of melodic metalcore institutions like August Burns Red or Blessthefall.

Similarly, frontman Robert Ljung sticks pretty consistently to the deeper, more threatening metalcore growl that he's developed of late, still not catering to fans of the hysterical screams of the band's ancient demo "Unbeliever", and more importantly, doing less and less of the clean refrains and spoken word passages that helped give "Another Year Of Disaster" dynamics and making it so memorable. It's not that there are no clean vocals on here, but the ones that are sound far from Ljung's angsty emo croons of old, and more importantly, they sound so squeaky clean and nice that it's hard to glean any sense of character from them at all.

Still, while the band has gotten more generic in that sense, it's hard not to admit that they at least do metalcore quite well. As is typical for the genre, the drums keep things 'hardcore punk fast' rather than 'thrash metal fast', ensuring that you can both windmill your hair and bang your head and(or) run in circles, crashing into people, depending on your preference - and this all-inclusiveness is what metalcore is meant to do if you ask me. The genre is built for energy, and with both the drummer mixing the tempos up, the guitarist switching between low and high riffage and the overall oomphy punch to the production, "Silence The World" is not at all a bad proposition.

Not even when you consider the fact, that in terms of content, I can see why some find Adept to be of somewhat questionable integrity. The band has never left its underdog nature behind, true enough, as much can be read from the album title as well as songs like "The Toughest Kids" - but all their most heart-felt sentiments are constantly accompanied by an attitude of "getting wasted and partying hard is the best thing ever", as perfectly heard in the boneheaded intro yells to "Established 2004"; "We're back motherfuckers! And this one's for the fuckin' crew! So raise your fuckin' brew! This one goes out to you! And you! And you! You know how the fuck we do! HEHEHEHE!".

Because this may ground Adept as a band that you can't take too seriously even when they're crooning full power in the catchy "Secrets" or in the high climaxing "The Ocean Grave". But it also lends a contrast to their emo tendencies which make them relatable to you unless you live life high-minded at all times. And it fits this very style of music, because if there's one thing you can do while spinning "Silence The World" - even when things occasionally blend together into 'metal-soup' - it is imagining hitting a moshpit with a handful of pints in your blood to shout until your throat is raw and fuck things up until you're drenched in sweat. And if that's not exactly what Adept are aiming for with their balancing act between fast and heavy, bitter and reckless, then I need some help figuring out what is.

7

Download: Secrets, The Ocean Grave, The Toughest Kids
For The Fans Of: Bring Me The Horizon, August Burns Red, Blessthefall
Listen: facebook.com/AdeptOfficial

Release Date 22.03.2013
Panic & Action Records

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