Review of The Autumn Offering - Embrace The Gutter

Synopsis:

Though not the metal saving album the band claims, Embrace the Gutter is a solid ‘American Metal’ record that will please fans of God Forbid, Trivium, Himsa, Shadows Fall and Lamb of God.

Review:

The mix of thrash, metalcore/hardcore and traditional heavy metal displayed on The Autumn Offering’s second album is a well worn formula that is delivered with vigor and polish, and shows that The Autumn Offering have matured from their more ‘melodicore’ based debut album but also fits too snugly into the safe realms and template laid down by the aforementioned bands.

Guitarists Tommy Church and Matt Johnson have developed a Coyle brothers (God Forbid)-like Bay Area, thrash based, interaction with hair in the wind solos (especially “The Yearning”, “Embrace the Gutter”, “Ghost”, “One Last Thrill”) and new, gruffer vocalist Dennis Miller (not that Dennis Miller), further removes The Autumn Offering from the metalcore crowd despite their jump to Victory Records and the end result is a satisfying album that shows The Autumn Offering, though not the saviors of metal, are more than capable of carrying metal’s flag.

Though a far more melodic affair than Revelations of the Unsung, the melody is based on the bare chested leads rather than pure metalcore and the few ‘core based grooves (“Misery”, "This Future Disease”) are crunchy, Hi-Tec sneakers and tight jeans rather than white belts, died hair and girls' pants.

Also, whereas Revelations of the Unsung had some stellar moments amid some rather lukewarm tracks, Embrace the Gutter is more consistent across the board, but does lack that, repeat 15 times track/ killer riff that were scattered on Revelations of the Unsung (i.e “Revelation”, “Homeless”). The catchiness level has also been raised a tad for more radio play as tracks like the almost sing-along title track, “No End in Sight” and the Pantera-ish “Walk the Line” show where Victory is pointing their newest ‘saviors of metal’ (the mainstream). Truth be told one of my favorite cuts is the somber album closing instrumental, “The Final Cut” as Dennis Miller’s monotone shout gets a bit boring after a while.

Embrace the Gutter is a good album and is certainly a respectable addition to Victory’s ever thinning metal roster, but don't look for it to ‘take metal back’.

Release Details

The Autumn Offering

Embrace The Gutter

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