Album
Type: Full
length
Date
Released: 12/7/2014
Label:
Self
Released
“Automa” DD
track Listing:
- We Were Build Not Born
- Dawn Emergence
- Fighting Through Cognizance
- Raining Ashes
- Preceding Silence
- One to Fall, One Hundred to
Transcend
- We're All Just Machines in the
End
Bio:
An instrumental ambient/experimental/progressive/metal one man band project from Grayslake Illinois
The Band:
Ross Blomgren
| All instruments
Ashley
Rodriguez | Guest Vocals
Review:
Soaring
melodies soaring over chugging riffs abound on ‘Becoming the Lion’'s new
release “Atoma.” A well executed mostly instrumental album, it touches on a
bunch of different influences throughout it's length. Definitely for fans of
the Cloudkicker/Russian Circles school of instrumental metal, but what sets
this album apart is some cool aesthetic choices. Such as including some solid
female wordless vocals which I haven't heard done since “Dark Side of the Moon”
(although not as crazy sounding as that chick, who sorta sounds like she's
having an aneurism, but still very cool!).
The
production on the album isn't quite as raw as Russian Circles newer stuff, but
maintains a nice balance and all the instrumentation can be clearly heard
throughout. The guitar tone and playing is pretty excellent throughout as well.
One thing that especially differentiates from Russian Circles/Cloudkicker type
bands is the guitar tone sounds a lot tighter and more Meshuggah sounding in
parts, particularly during the first minute or so of the second track ‘Dawn
Emergence’ and the fifth track ‘Defiance’. Going with the heavier rhythm sound
gives Becoming the Lion a very different feel than almost every instrumental
band I've heard. The only other instrumental band I can think of with that tone
is Tempel on their album “On the Steps of the Temple
The
excellent 6th track ‘Preceding Silence’ has a really cool jazzy
break just in the right spot on the album to nicely interrupt the flow with
unexpected electronic drumming and some slick leads. This is an excellent album
and along with the aforementioned Tempel album, this is a contender for best
instrumental album of the year no doubt. Favorite tracks ‘Dawn Emergence’ and ‘Preceding
Silence’. In addition, it appears as if Becoming the Lion is just starting to
book and play shows, so if you are in the Illinois/Wisconsin border region be
sure to check them out!
Words
By:
Chris Tedor
Availiable
for free digital download from here!
For
more information:
