Phinehas is a band that really stands out among their peers in a genre that tends to lean towards staleness. Metalcore has, for several years, been getting more and more stale, with many bands sounding like each other, to the point where it is sometimes hard to distinguish which bands are which. Ever since their incredible 2011 debut, Thegodmachine -- an instant masterpiece of the genre, up there with Killswitch Engage's Alive or Just Breathing -- Phinehas has been showing the world how good metalcore can be if the bands would write each song as if they were creating a masterpiece of art. Complex guitar and bass work, beautifully encouraging (and sometimes brutally honest) Christian lyrics, thunderous drumming, and incredibly dynamic vocals are always the centerpiece of this band's efforts.
Each of their albums have built on the strengths of the previous one, but each album also maintains a spirit of individuality. Thegodmachine was brutally heavy and beautifully melodic, The Bridge Between EP had faster (almost power metal-like at times) drumming, but also had a lot of complex guitar work, and so forth; half of that EP was just acoustic work, but some of the best I've heard yet. The Last Word is Yours to Speak took the formula set by Thegodmachine and The Bridge Between, added some southern metal influences and some atmospheric parts, to create a dynamic and easy-to-headbang-to album. Where Thegodmachine felt almost like a concept album and each song felt connected, The Last Word is Yours to Speak is written so each song stands out on its own. Now, with their newest album, Till the End, they've shown us what they can REALLY do...
Till the End takes the connected/flowing and melodic feel of Thegodmachine, the dynamically heavy riffage of The Bridge Between, and the various improvements of The Last Word is Yours to Speak, and packs them all into one 13-track album. With Becoming the Archetype guitarist Daniel Gailey as Phinehas' new guitarist, there is a really heavy feel to a lot of the songs, but it maintains the beautifully melodic feel of previous albums. Dan has taken the guitar work to a whole new level, adopting the styles of both original guitarist Glenn Gizzi and second guitarist Jason Combs, while throwing in his own flair and style. Every single one of these songs impresses me, as a guitarist myself, since Dan's guitar work on this album is just ear-piercing and soothing (another way of saying EPIC) in every way. Dan's talented guitar work is best displayed in songs like Truth Be Told, Coup De Grace, Iliaster (More Than Skin), and the title track.
Sean McCulloch is one of the most dynamic vocalists I've heard, in -core and non-core genres both. Between a very powerful clean singing voice, monstrous high shrieking screams, lionish low roars, and even Devin Townsend-ish tonal screams at times, Sean always makes these albums beyond impressive from a vocal standpoint. Every album showed off his continual vocal evolution, and on this album, he debuts a new low style that occasionally might even remind some people of death metal and/or deathcore-like guttural techniques. If a guy who does not particularly care for deathcore (like myself) absolutely loves the times when Sean does these types of vocals, then you know they must be pretty good. Sean tears it up on both the heavier songs like White Livered and Tetelestai, and the more melodic-acoustic pieces like Seven and Evening Grey and Morning Red; he does exceptionally well, however, on the songs that have a balance of both the harsh and clean vocals such as Dead Choir, Truth Be Told (the amount of emotion he poured into this song is really moving and inspiring, and for good reason too), Forever West, Iliaster (More Than Skin), Till the End, etc.
Lee Humerian is an incredibly diverse drummer. I'm not a drummer personally, but I like to listen to each layer of the music, and I can tell you this much: Lee's drumming on this album tops all of their previous efforts. He kills it in so many ways. He shines a lot on the faster songs, but also does an awesome job with the slower stuff. And hey, any guy who can windmill while playing complex drum stuff like that live while ripping his hair out with his drumsticks deserves applause.
Bassists unfortunately seem to get the least recognition with some bands, mostly because many bands don't properly mix the bass guitars. Bryce Kelley's bass work on this album works really well with each song to the point where it's not just noticeable, but notable. One of the songs he really shows off his talent is in Tetelestai, where the heaviness of the song really allows his bass work to be easier to distinguish to the general listener. You can tell he really did give this album his all (even more than The Bridge Between and The Last Word is Yours to Speak, which is saying something), especially if you listen to the songs more than once.
In general, it's really, really hard to say whether or not this is their best album to date, as beating Thegodmachine is a near-impossible endeavor, but these guys just never pull ANY punches. They have not produced a single poor song, not even an AVERAGE song to date, and this album doesn't show any signs of them slowing down. This band is going places, and it makes it even nicer that they're genuine, down-to-earth Christian people who definitely love God, love their fans, and love what they do. If you're a fan of metalcore, buy this album. If you're not a fan of metalcore but love metal, buy this album. Even if you hate metal, buy this album. You will not be sorry.
10/10 (as always). Well done guys, it's awesome to be able to call you my brothers in Christ.
PS - If you ever have the opportunity to catch them live sometime, definitely do consider going. They are one of the few bands that sounds equal-to, if not better, than the album live, and the amount of energy they pour into their shows is impressive. I had the honor to see them live and meet/chat with them twice within the same week, and I just cannot recommend this band and all of their albums enough. Call me a fanboy, but Phinehas is one of the best bands in history.
Till the End takes the connected/flowing and melodic feel of Thegodmachine, the dynamically heavy riffage of The Bridge Between, and the various improvements of The Last Word is Yours to Speak, and packs them all into one 13-track album. With Becoming the Archetype guitarist Daniel Gailey as Phinehas' new guitarist, there is a really heavy feel to a lot of the songs, but it maintains the beautifully melodic feel of previous albums. Dan has taken the guitar work to a whole new level, adopting the styles of both original guitarist Glenn Gizzi and second guitarist Jason Combs, while throwing in his own flair and style. Every single one of these songs impresses me, as a guitarist myself, since Dan's guitar work on this album is just ear-piercing and soothing (another way of saying EPIC) in every way. Dan's talented guitar work is best displayed in songs like Truth Be Told, Coup De Grace, Iliaster (More Than Skin), and the title track.
Sean McCulloch is one of the most dynamic vocalists I've heard, in -core and non-core genres both. Between a very powerful clean singing voice, monstrous high shrieking screams, lionish low roars, and even Devin Townsend-ish tonal screams at times, Sean always makes these albums beyond impressive from a vocal standpoint. Every album showed off his continual vocal evolution, and on this album, he debuts a new low style that occasionally might even remind some people of death metal and/or deathcore-like guttural techniques. If a guy who does not particularly care for deathcore (like myself) absolutely loves the times when Sean does these types of vocals, then you know they must be pretty good. Sean tears it up on both the heavier songs like White Livered and Tetelestai, and the more melodic-acoustic pieces like Seven and Evening Grey and Morning Red; he does exceptionally well, however, on the songs that have a balance of both the harsh and clean vocals such as Dead Choir, Truth Be Told (the amount of emotion he poured into this song is really moving and inspiring, and for good reason too), Forever West, Iliaster (More Than Skin), Till the End, etc.
Lee Humerian is an incredibly diverse drummer. I'm not a drummer personally, but I like to listen to each layer of the music, and I can tell you this much: Lee's drumming on this album tops all of their previous efforts. He kills it in so many ways. He shines a lot on the faster songs, but also does an awesome job with the slower stuff. And hey, any guy who can windmill while playing complex drum stuff like that live while ripping his hair out with his drumsticks deserves applause.
Bassists unfortunately seem to get the least recognition with some bands, mostly because many bands don't properly mix the bass guitars. Bryce Kelley's bass work on this album works really well with each song to the point where it's not just noticeable, but notable. One of the songs he really shows off his talent is in Tetelestai, where the heaviness of the song really allows his bass work to be easier to distinguish to the general listener. You can tell he really did give this album his all (even more than The Bridge Between and The Last Word is Yours to Speak, which is saying something), especially if you listen to the songs more than once.
In general, it's really, really hard to say whether or not this is their best album to date, as beating Thegodmachine is a near-impossible endeavor, but these guys just never pull ANY punches. They have not produced a single poor song, not even an AVERAGE song to date, and this album doesn't show any signs of them slowing down. This band is going places, and it makes it even nicer that they're genuine, down-to-earth Christian people who definitely love God, love their fans, and love what they do. If you're a fan of metalcore, buy this album. If you're not a fan of metalcore but love metal, buy this album. Even if you hate metal, buy this album. You will not be sorry.
10/10 (as always). Well done guys, it's awesome to be able to call you my brothers in Christ.
PS - If you ever have the opportunity to catch them live sometime, definitely do consider going. They are one of the few bands that sounds equal-to, if not better, than the album live, and the amount of energy they pour into their shows is impressive. I had the honor to see them live and meet/chat with them twice within the same week, and I just cannot recommend this band and all of their albums enough. Call me a fanboy, but Phinehas is one of the best bands in history.
For an idea of how good they are live, check out this clip I captured at my second Phinehas show.