The Arkham White
Relic Radiation
5.8
Boston’s The Arkham White are not doing anything remotely original with their self released, 5 track take on melodic death metal that’s going to get lumped in with the usual metalcore/deathcore crowd, but they do it rather well adding to the quality music coming out of Massachusetts.
Much like recent releases I've heard by bands like Loren Battle, Adversary, Last House on the Left etc, this isn’t bringing anything new to the table whatsoever, despite a promising classical/choral injection in opener “Relic Radiation”; it’s Gothenburg inspired death metal with some thrash dual vocals and a distinct American feel that’s been done to death, but at least this lot do it acceptably.
The 5 tracks are well played, (though the drumming could be a bit tighter in the more high octane moments like “I Looked into the Atom Smasher”), energetic and have all the requisites you are looking for if you are a fan of the genre - it's trying really hard to be death metal, but it just isn't quite there yet with its galloping dual melodies, solos (“Offense Mechanism”), vocals and sorta breakdowns. Direct instrumental closer “At the Mountains of Madness” ends things on a high note, but the whole effort will ensure that the correct fan base is paying attention. To their credit, they don’t try and sugar things too much with clean vocals or needless interludes, just 5 tracks of metal that while not quite as dynamic or tight as some of their peers, has some measure of promise.
