The Prestige

Amer

Written by: PP on 07/09/2015 22:55:18

"Redeemer"-era Norma Jean fans look this way. French newcomers The Prestige have released one of the surprise albums of 2015 with "Amer" that pays tribute to the origins of mathcore and chaotic hardcore with strong references to Botch's pioneering work as well as the unadulterated approach by The Chariot, and the oft-disregarded Since By Man. It's a stellar work of pure chaos that meets the intricacy of mathcore and the unadulterated rage of a Converge record, displaying prominent influence from each style while fully reclaiming the genre as their own. Few bands are able to sound this convincing with an identity despite drawing so many parallels to genre heavyweights in the process.

"Bête Noire" is a good example. It's like Norma Jean from "Redeemer" era: chaotic mathcore with stop/start sequences, unpredictable guitar patterns, and melancholic melodies giving the song a haunted edge, contrasted with semi-clean vocals timed perfectly to elevate the record out of the standard metallic hardcore platform into something more meaningful. There are two areas in particular that make the latter possible for The Prestige. One, their vocalist is a versatile one, ranging from throat-killing screams to haunting cleans and everything in between, culminating on spoken word material on "Léger De Main" that echoes the legendary, albeit now defunct The Psyke Project at their most chilling moments. Two, the avant-garde leaning instrumental work, particularly the liberal usage of dissonance and discordance within the guitar lines against subtle drops of melody, creates an interesting contrast that gives the songs just enough variety to stand out despite the unadulterated rage and relentless chaos that they are based on.

Way too many bands focus on writing a devastating record without paying attention to the often minute detail that separates an average record from a good one; The Prestige do a great job highlighting the best segments of their music either through unpredictable instrumental patterns, melancholic melody, or simply fantastic Botch worship pieces like "Voir Dire". While we're still somewhat far from the best material this genre has to offer, "Amer" is nonetheless a surprisingly strong and convincing effort at mathcore circa mid 2000s - a style that's been sorely missed in the Rise Records era of heavy popular music.

Download: Bête Noire, Léger de Main
For the fans of: Botch, Norma Jean, Since By Man, The Chariot, Converge
Listen: Facebook

Release date 20.04.2015
Imminence Records

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