I always welcome a release coming from  Relapse. This label has released magnificent albums many times in the past and though I didn't know shit about this band I was more than willing to review this album. Even though Relapse's roster contains mostly Death Metal bands, THE END come out of the blue with a release that on the one hand belongs to the extreme sound, but on the other hand cannot easily be categorized.

Formed in 1999, the Canadian Metal act debuted with the Transfer Trachea Reverberations From Point: False Omniscient EP (2001), which was awarded as the best Metal album of the year in Canada. Their first full-length work, Within Dividia, was released in 2004 and was considered one of the 10 essential Mathcore albums by UK Metal Hammer magazine. Now, this is their second album and the second that is being released through Relapse. Since I haven't listened to any of their previous works, I think I will have to devote enough time so as to understand these guys (I think you also know that Post Hardcore/Mathcore is a genre that requires 100% of the listener's attention).

I have listened to the album for some time now and the first thing that I want to say is that Relapse shows that it remains one of the top forces in the extreme sound. Where the fuck did they found this band? Many major labels will fire all of their scouters for not finding this band sooner! So, the Canadian metallers are not only influenced by great bands in this style of music, but they also seem talented enough to create something unique from their influences. This band has the aggressiveness of CONVERGE, the mystical melodies of ISIS, the crazy rhythms of MESHUGGAH, the insanity of DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN and the heaviness of MASTODON. What more can somebody ask for? Elementary simply kills! It can drag you in another dimension with its out of this world melodies while filling you up with hate and melancholy at the same time! From its first until its last second, it takes your hand and travels you through time and space and the trip is over when the last note of And Always... has been played. There is no possibility of ignoring this band! You simply can't do it! If 21st century's Metal needs a soundtrack, this band just released it!

This is album is definitely NOT for easy listeners. You have to have a very open mind and different kinds of music in your CD collection to understand the incredible atmosphere of THE END. In my opinion, if 2007 starts with releases like this one, who knows what is going to follow...