Band: Becoming The Archetype
Album: Dichotomy
Genre: Metal
Label: Solid State

Tracks:
1. Mountain of Souls
2. Dichotomy
3. Artificial Immortality
4. Self Existent
5. St. Anne’s Lullaby
6. Ransom
7. Evil Unseen
8. How Great Thou Art
9. Deep Heaven
10. End of The Age

It seems that winter is always the perfect time to bust out the heavier sounds. I don’t know why, but something about the biting cold makes me crazed for metal/hardcore/grind/etc. more than any other time of the year and this is a good thing because a lot of heavier records seem to come out in the fall/winter period. One of these records happens to be Dichotomy, the new release from Becoming The Archetype.

Becoming the Archetype have built a career on heavy and technical metal and Dichotomy does not waver too much from the beaten path. Then again, why fix something that isn’t broke? From the blistering, “Mountain of Souls,” onward, the album continuously pounds us with brutal drums and scorching guitar work. Tracks like, “Dichotomy,” and, “Ransom,” bust out some of the most epic sounds BTA has ever gone for and they are pulled off quite well. With bands like this, you expect a large scale sound, but sometimes they still make you say, “whoa.” Producer Devin Townsend really pulled it together on this release. However, I can’t help but feel like the band didn’t push themselves on this release as much as they needed to in order to stand out. It feels like their other albums, but shorter track lengths and more approachable rhythms don’t sell it any differently than just another epic sounding technical metal band. 

The writing on this disc though, is astounding. I’m a strong supporter that your message and lyrics should match your sound and with this release, Becoming the Archetype have really stepped it up a notch when the vocals come into play. From visions of, “standing at the foothills of forever,” to simply re-imagining the classic hymn, “How Great Thou Art,” BTA never cease to impress. The best part though? They actually took the time to make it flow and rhyme. Forget these bands that think they can say whatever they want because it’s generally incomprehensible screams, there’s an art to lyrics. An art, which BTA have really gotten close to perfecting.

In the end, your left torn between loving and passing on this release. It’s exceptional for technical metal, but BTA didn’t push themselves too much to get to this point. I feel like the majority of this could fit onto their other discs [except for a few standouts] and that just shows a band being static. Fans will lose interest. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing and I fear BTA may be tip toeing that line.

*Written By: James Shotwell*
Grade: 6/10

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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