You know how you’ve been missing sleep lately, staring at the ceiling and thinking: “Man, what I really need in my life is this groovy, melodic metalcore band that’s also progressive, kind of like Thrice and Misery Signals but with influences from Karnivool and Protest the Hero as well?”. Well, your search, which I am certain existed, sleep loss and all, is now at an end because we have Matter. Their sophomore release, Teraphim, is based on the writings of the prophet Ezekiel and is a damned good alchemical mix of the above influences. Why alchemical? Because it fuses all those disparate parts into one complete, infectious whole. Head on over the jump for your very first taste!
I chose ‘Sword’ because it is a great example of what this album has to offer: heaviness and power on one side, in the form of the harsh vocals and the insanely excellent hardcore drumming, and melody on the other side, coalescing around the clean vocals and the amazing chord progression in the verse. And you know what, look at that damned production value. Each track has its own unique artwork which is added to the already stunning work done on the CD as a whole. Be sure to check out the rest of the album, as it has really endearing variation and uniqueness. All in all, this is a great, unknown explosion of sincerity and power which I for one will be adding to my daily rotation.
-EK