Neaera

Forging the Eclipse

1. The Forging
2. Heaven’s Descent
3. In Defiance
4. Eight Thousand Sorrows Deep
5. Arise Black Vengeance
6. Rubikon
7. Sirens of Black
8. Certitude
9. Exaltation
10. Tyranny of Want
11. The Prophecy
12. And to Posterity a Plague

[Metal Blade | 10/26/10]

The metalcore/melodic death metal genre has never really appealed to me. Bands like Fear My Thoughts and Heaven Shall Burn have only been given a minute amount of listens from me for one simple reason: it’s repetitive. Now, I do not have a disliking predisposition to it (as it fuses two genres I like), but from what I have heard much of it fails to impress me. It’s never bad, it’s just never excellent. Unfortunately, German quintet Neaera and their newest release, Forging the Eclipse, did not change my mind.

The album begins with a relaxing intro featuring some very calm piano over an ambient atmosphere with fading-in choppy static. This pleasantry is a stark contrast to the next song which is a balls-to-the-walls double bas/riff barrage before finishing with some -core chugging. That’s not so bad, is it? No, it isn’t, but the problem begins to develop as you continue your 40 minute journey. And this problem, as I mentioned, is that it’s very repetitive. The riffs fail to distinguish and the abundance of tremolo picking becomes more irritating the longer I listen and the lack of varied drumming (double bass, blast beats and circular/breakdown-y) only enhances the monotony. There’s a few parts where they let up on the uninteresting drumming (“Tyranny of Want”, “Rubikon”) but it’s never enough to save the album from glaring mediocrity. It’s a shame because Benjamin Hilleke, the man behind the vocals, does a pretty good job. It’s mostly mid to high range screams/shrieks with the obligatory growls when the song slows down. He’s far from flawless and original, but fits the style well. Plus, he sounds like the guy from Heaven Shall Burn (which is ironically one of their finer points, too). The best thing this album has to offer is the track “Rubikon” because it doesn’t have that filler feeling. It employs a classical melo-death melody, multiple tempo changes and a sufficient bridge. While not the most amazing song ever, this is how one would go about diversifying and revitalizing Forging the Eclipse. A short, sweet, solid track. I had hopes once I reached it, but sadly, the energy and memorability dissipated as the song ended before transitioning into more of the same.

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