As one of the few people who didn’t fall in love with their 1991 full-length Earache debut ‘Condemned’, the news of the re-emergence of long dormant technical doomsters Confessor didn’t really register with me as being anything really major. After joining together again a while back to help pay for the medical bills of their late guitarist Ivan Edward Colon, a creative fire was reignited among the band members, who released the ‘Blueprint Soul’ EP and performed live to help lessen Ivan’s debt. Season Of Mist then signed the band, and released the ‘Sour Times’ EP as a teaser for their new comeback album ‘Unraveled’. Experiencing what some would call a moment of clarity, for me, the first listen to this new album was perplexing, a little nerve-wracking, and simply beautiful. Whatever I was missing on the debut, ‘Unraveled’ clicked like almost no other album i’ve heard this year.

It’s truly admirable to see the way these guys have adapted to suit the present scene while still keeping their individuality intact, not that it’s any huge surprise, really. Their debut was many years ahead of it’s time, if not still an acquired taste to this day, and arguably cast the mold for the tech/math metal scene as we know it now. There have been a few creative changes made here and there since their reformation, most notably an overall toning-down of just about everything musically, but the spellbinding results of their self-restraint are more than worth sacrificing a bit of extremity.

‘Unraveled’ shows Confessor updating their sound with crossbreedings of prog, tech, and uprooted stoner rock, melding elements of each to create vivid draperies of many different deep emotions. The guitars sound heavy enough to be considered doom in many parts, and even though the songs are of roughly average length, each one moves at a pace that makes the album sound longer. Depending on your taste, that could be a good or a bad thing. The majority of the material is stuttering groove played at speeds ranging from a St.Vitus-like drone, to more of a modern, somewhat downpicked staccato. The rhythms have a slithering quality to them, almost like something you could picture a woman seductively bellydancing along to with knives in her hands, or whatever weapon you choose to throw in your mental image. Graceful, fluid movements that cloak deadly accuracy.

For a band that really doesn’t speed things up too much, these guys still tend to make “busy” music. Even at a slower tempos, the music moves at a very steady pace by means of off-timed fills, irregular but steady beats, and oddly phrased cymbal work. The drums seem to be doing their own thing, and the guitars are doing something different and not really matching perfectly, yet it all manages to stay cohesive and locked down. It almost feels like violently rolling down a hill in slow motion. The energy is there, but it’s released strategically, and with understated precision. Lead flourishes pop up sparingly, and don’t really noodle around too much, which is nice, but there could have been more of them to add additional mood.

While the rhythm section and the guitars are doing their dance, vocalist Scott Jeffreys seems to be trying to make things difficult by also following his own vibe as well. He has an elastic sort of voice, on the higher side but not quite as hair-raising as the debut, that has an indescribable urgency to it even during less charged moments. At various points in the album, and very briefly, reflections of Layne Staley, Trouble’s Eric Wagner, former Metal Church wailer Mike Howe, and Geddy Lee appear. ‘Wigstand’ and ‘Blueprint Soul’ sound like tunes Jerry Cantrell forgot to put on Alice In Chains’ ‘Dirt’ album. The way Scott delivers the lyrics is also odd-timed, but melts into the music rather than battling it for supremacy. It’s catchy, and at the same time difficult to sing along to from a timing standpoint alone, which makes for many interesting repeated listens, especially album highlights such as ‘The Downside’, lead-off track ‘Cross The Bar’ and it’s soaring follow-up track ‘Until Tomorrow’. There’s shades of their more technical side with the excellently paced ‘Hibernation’, and the bonus track ‘The Secret’ which is originally from the ‘Metal Massacre 10′ compilation. It rocks, it rolls, and it leaves me wanting more.

The production is a tad on the tame side. Everything could have probably been brought up a few notches to really make more of an impression to highlight those wicked riffs. But overall, ‘Unraveled’ is a great album that, once again, doesn’t sound like anything else out there right now in the metal scene. If you enjoyed any of the previous releases you’ve managed to find, then you should pick this up sometime soon. It’s definitely worth it, and considering the push these guys are going to get when they start playing out to promote this album (a gig opening for Lamb Of God, for starters), it wouldn’t surprise me to see Confessor get really popular, really fast. I hope they keep it going, because i’m hooked. Look for the Confessor DVD review soon. Cheers!

This entry was posted by Dekompoze on Thursday, 17th November, 2005 at 0:30 and is filed under Reviews, Confessor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response below. You may view a   printable version of this page. You may download this page in   PDF format.