Review: Archetype EP (2011)

It’s been a while since I’ve posted at Dose of Metal. It had to happen. At some point, I had to wake up, snap out of it and realize that I’m not a rock star (or should that be metal star?), earning millions and married to my ten wives (all of which are Playboy bunnies, of course). Enter real life: A world where I have commitments, have to earn money and pay rent. We all do it, but hey, I’m still going to bitch about it – because I can.

But sooner or later, I would need to post back on DoM, for at least my sanity’s sake. So here I am, and I figured the best way to get back into it, would be to post some reviews of the music I’ve listened to, good and bad, over the last month or so. So here we go…

Archetype self-titled EP (2011)

1. ‘Decease to Exist’ – 4:39
2. ‘The Fault of My Design’ – 3:50
3. ‘The Silence’ – 3:04
4. ‘Into Infamy’ – 4:02
5. ‘Ruination’ – 4:03

An EP logged in my recent purchases on Amazon comes from relatively unknown unsigned UK act, Archetype. The two-member melodic death metal band, hailing from my hometown, combine a fury of ferocious screams, death metal blastbeats and thrashy riffs, making them one of the more interesting melodic death bands in recent years.

Being an unsigned, young, two-member band, you could be forgiven for thinking that Archetype will be another generic At The Gates ripoff act with little talent. However, this is far from being the case. The amount of talent on display from the two members is incredible. Combining the groove of At The Gates, the triumphant melodies of Arch Enemy and the thrash style of early era The Haunted (before they went a bit shit), Archetype merge various styles, as well as their own unique progressive vision to craft what is a creative take on the melodic death metal genre, avoiding many of the pitfalls and clichés that a lot of their contemporaries fall into .

Musically, the band are on fire for the entire EP, with vocalist Danny McAuley screaming with conviction often unseen with modern metal acts. Musically, Matthew Phillips’ guitar harmonies interweave with violent chords and  pummeling drums. Additionally, the demo is full of some powerful hooks, melodies, and brilliant solos that make this a must have for fans of melodic death metal. The most interesting aspect of the songwriting, however, is the use of motifs throughout the EP, creating continuity between tracks.

Melodic death metal fans looking for something new and fresh, look no further. It’s short and sweet, but for just 3.45 Great British Pounds, you can’t go wrong with this entry EP from newcomers Archetype.

No more solos in Limp Bizkit

Uh-oh, everyone’s favorite nu-metal band is disbanding. Well, not completely, but apparently the drummer and DJ are out of the band. I guess no more solos in the band, right?

If you don’t get the joke above, watch this cover of Metallica‘s Sanitarium.

Anyway, here are a couple of tweets from DJ Lethal:

“So far the only news I’ve heard is that fred has plans for a “new” limp bizkit which doesn’t include [drummer]John Otto or I. I’m hoping for the best“

Read full article here.

They’ll probably be replaced by a Macbook, so it’s not all bad news. I’m sure it’s more power efficient than all those heavy rigs. EARTH HOUR 2012!!!

The update no one was waiting for: New Aerosmith album updates

Aerosmith? More like Aerosmithsonian… Get it? Cause they’re old enough to be in museums LOLOLOL!!!1111

Anyway, they have a new album out. It has an old vibe to it (duh, their combined age is 1000), and…

“The camaraderie’s there, there’s some songs that are new rock, and old rock and middle-of-the-road rock, and blues, piano. Joe Perry singing a couple of songs, I’m playing the drums, Joey sings, just all kinds of stuff.“

Read full article here.

They switched instruments? Awww, isn’t that cute. Was it even intentional, or is it just old age?

The Alice Cooper archive got broken into

I didn’t know there was an ‘Alice Cooper archive,’ but apparently it exists, and someone broke in and stole some stuff.

“The storage facility in Los Angeles which houses the Alice Cooper archives was broken into on March 27, along with three other storage units. A police report has been filed. Items missing include a large quantity of original vinyl records, a jacket, and the original sculpture which was used for the cover of the Hey Stoopid album.“

Full article here.

When asked why he risked jail time for a bunch of Alice Cooper stuff that is worth like $50 total, the thief had no comment.

By the way, sorry for going so long without any updates, but I had some stuff to do, and the other writers apparently have real lives too, and shit. I know, right? Fucking losers. Real jobs and girlfriends, pshh…

Marilynstein

Well, there’s that. I’m too lazy to search for any previous collaboration between Marilyn Manson and Rammstein, but I can tell you this: Mr. (Mrs.? Ms.?) Manson can easily fire his (her?) backing band without batting an eyelid. They got schooled big time.

This happened at the ECHO Awards, if you were wondering.