Apotheon
Mechanically Consumed
Andrew Morris – Drums
Fernando del Valle III – Guitar
Ibrahim Jimenez – Bass
Reece Deeter – Vocals
Ian Burnside – Guitars
Releases on June 22nd, 2017
Premonition
This song begins in an epic sounding way. This is something you put on right before you are ready to start something big, whether it be weight lifting, sparring for boxing or another martial art, to just getting yourself in an amped up mood and ready to attack all obstacles that life will throw at you. If there was going to be entrance music for someone and they wanted to be able to effortlessly project their attitude without a single word expressed. This track gets this E.P. set up very well and based on what Apotheon have delivered in the past. I can say that without a doubt the songs that follow are going to be erupting with some tasty riffs, and killer blasts.
Tyken’s Rift
This song is the song that will make any gamer past or future feel some connection to the music and also vivid scenery. Just wait until the one-minute mark where you will understand the last statement and then you will be immersed in a world of metal, and video game like imagery. Now come back to the track titled Premonition, it really jives with this song. Again you get that uplifting and melodic style form the music and also creates a perception of imagery, scenery, and a different dimension or world. I feel as though Reece is hitting a lower range than on the previous songs but then again. I keep getting wrapped up in what sort of imagery you get while listening to this song and having the dialogue at the 1:09 that sounds straight out of a game. Apotheon are taking the metal making game to some new levels as they are creating music that is not only heavy and addicting but also energizing and spawn images from words and musical notes. However as great as this song is, I know that my favorite track is about to follow.
Mechanically Consumed
This song begins quietly with a really a subtle amount of notes being played almost at random, before a stringed instrument like a cello lays down what one might expect from an old movie, a horror or thriller to be exact. But then the drums and the distortion begins and the pace of the song goes into high speed. This song is my favorite off the E.P. in my opinion this is the heaviest track, it has the most jarring riffs, and the vocals are on point. The hardest part for me is to narrow down what section I like the most, which part of the song gets me the most amped up and excited to listen. The whole song has that effect on me. For example, right around the 1:43 mark the guitars and drums set up a badass section that is contagious. And it hits right before a solo, the vocals give way for the guitar solo, but only for so long before they are layered over the solo and really add to the reasons why I love it. Now if that was it I’d say you have a solid track, but it’s not. Because right around the 2:50 mark they slow things down to an almost sideshow or circus sounding section. Under most circumstances I would have heard this and thought “gimmicks” or “ yea why did they do that, it doesn’t even sound right with the song” but I can’t say that in this situation. It works, it sounds odd, and if they started or ended the song with it, it would have been a flop. But its smack dab in the middle of the most badass song on this E.P. and you haven’t even gotten to the second solo of the song. And this song is minutes less than the previous two tracks. Apotheon have again packed so much into the song it’s almost unbelievable that they managed to make another killer E.P.
The Flesh Machine
All you need to know about this song, is that some things should be left to mystery, I typically will not breakdown the last song on an E.P. only because there aren’t that many songs and I want at least one song to be a little bit of a mystery. I just can’t find it in me to do that for this one. It is just too damn good.
The song begins with a subtle progression of the guitar playing a riff that’s panned from left to right while the drums are playing a jazzed up beat to go along with the guitars, while the bass is holding things down. A keyboard strikes a note at the :18 second mark and continues playing with the other instruments. leading up right at the :44 second mark Reece slices through all that buildup with a growl that sets up his next few lines perfectly. Right around the 1:14 mark they have a section of solid riffing before the next verse. I’m beginning to have conflicting thoughts on which song I like more “Mechanically Consumed” or this one. Right at the 2:43 mark the song takes a deep dive into an uplifting and euphoric section that lasts just shy of a minute and then the vocals attack again. At what is roughly the 3:50 mark, the listener begins to become activated by the music. Whatever you may be doing at this moment in time, whether it be driving, walking down the street, rocking out in your room, or getting your jam on at the office. This is where you lose all of your collective shit and fucking throw some haymakers, air guitar or air drums and rock the fuck out. I dare anyone who listens to this E.P. to not get ready to take on the world when this song reaches this point. As they come out of one of the most badass moments on this, Ian pulls off a whirlwind of a guitar solo. There is no better way to put it, this song wraps everything up brilliantly.
This E.P. is an awesome little banger to be dropping at the beginning of this summer like this. There is soooo much killer music coming out in 2017, but summertime is the time of year where I look forward to killer tunes and having speakers blasting with the windows rolled down. This E.P. follows their 2016 E.P. titled The Acension (which gathered attention among Facebook groups following the Technical metal and deathcore scene) and then also the single Tyken’s Rift from January. Apotheon are making a name for themselves, and in a very short amount of time I might add. I am very pleased with this E.P. and has been some solid music to listen to while working on projects. While the E.P. is great I must admit, I have been listening to the advance copy, including instrumental tracks. Whether or not the guys decide to release this with the instrumental versions or not, my recommendation would be to do it. The music is so damn good. An amalgamated blend of equal parts technical, melodic, and and heavy. I strongly suggest anyone and everyone who is looking for something new to jam to this summer. Get yourselves over to their bandcamp page and get your copy ordered up because this drops on Friday. 9.3/10 \m/
****UPDATE****
I had to find out about the instrumental versions and I cant tell you how happy I was to hear from Fernando that they will be releasing an instrumental version of this E.P. as well.
“On streaming sites (Spotify being one of them) will have the ep + the instrumental tracks. Bandcamp will be vocal and instrumental versions sold separate.” “Going forward we will always be offering instrumental mixes. We love the offering, and while we love our vocalist and what he brings to table, we also write this music without vocals considered! And as fans of instrumental music ourselves, it’s always cool to hear A different version of a song!”
So there you have it, there will be instrumental versions available. Now imagine how many, videos can be made by people doing vocal or other instrument playthrough covers over the instrumental copies. I think Apotheons view on instrumental versions is a brilliant idea. Metal fans, and metal bands, lets make that a thing shall we?
Check out these links for Apotheon:
Apotheon’s Website- https://apotheonband.wixsite.com/apotheon Click it, you know you want to see what happens
Apotheon on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/ApotheonBand/ Go on show them some love, and like their Facebook page
-Badger \m/
Visit our FACEBOOK page \m/_(><)_\m/
The Metal Breakdown 