III
Uprising
Undoubtedly black metal, this album still has all the elements that you’d expect from a band within this genre. Fast, thrashy playing, screeching aggressive vocals, and a gothic undertone. However, there are many aspects of the bands style that are much more refined than what black metal listeners have historically come to expect. Much like previous works of the band, “III” is very conscious of social politics as well as climate change which we can hear throughout the album's lyrics and its use of clips from news channels to accentuate the topics.
“Eternal Mantra” opens up with a rather soft and melancholic riff that has many melodic qualities. The song has an air of anger about it due to the stereotypical black metal style vocals and aggressive drum playing while holding back the full extent to what this band can do. In fact, the album follows this theme throughout, whereby the artists seem to be holding their cards close to their chest and not letting the beast out of the cage. Although there are heavy, aggressive and thrash like parts, the songs aren’t an all-out assault on the listener with the production having a major part to play in this. You can hear all emotion and the messages that are sonically conveyed in the tracks while also being subject to diverse dynamics which is perfectly manifested in “Uprise III” which has all the typical elements of black metal, but harmonically is very much like classic melodic metal.
The diversity of the bands qualities is shown in short bursts that are surrounded by their typically unique sound and style of fast alternate picked melodies on the guitars and furious drumming. The diverse range of riffs is shown in “A Message to the Hypocrites” a song that starts off in such a way that you would think that you’re listening to GOJIRA and progresses through a multitude of riffs that seemingly take you through many metal genres while always returning to the black metal style. A constant trait that is a mainstay on this album is the progressive style that is implemented here. Not only do the length of the tracks suggest this, but the song structures and the way every riff is calculated to flow from one another as well as the variety of styles in which the instrumentation is performed is very much within the progressive bracket. The band saves the best suited song to showcase this until last with “Brace yourself”, a track that is on its own journey and is very rich and will have listeners discovering new qualities within it every time they hit the play button.
6 / 10
Had Potential
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"III" Track-listing:
- Eternal Mantra
- Uprise III
- Raise a Glass
- A Message to the Hypocrites
- While the World is Burning
- Brace Yourself
Uprising Lineup:
W. - Guitars, Bass, Vocals
Austin Lunn - Drums
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