Arsis - Starve for the Devil

January 28, 2010

Reviewer: Matt

Starve for the Devil is likely to polarize Arsis’s fan base.  Once the flagship of Willowtip’s roster - the label that helped to launch the “tech death” explosion in the mid-naughts - Arsis went on to bigger and better things with Nuclear Blast.  Now they’re dropping their fourth album, which to a considerable degree leaves behind guitar histrionics in favor of a more accessible form of songwriting.

Debut album A Celebration of Guilt is a landmark of sorts in its genre.  Coming at a time when melodic death metal had all but exhaled its dying breath, A Celebration of Guilt exhibited a fluid and technical, melodic and catchy, fierce and unrelenting take on a familiar style and exuded a caliber of craftsmanship that hadn’t been seen since the early 90s.  Then Arsis pretty much lost me by releasing a series of forgettable albums capitalizing on the scene’s push toward the extremities of speed and ostentatious technicality. 

For those who were disappointed by and burnt out on Arsis’s last few releases, Starve for the Devil may prove a pleasant surprise.  The biggest surprise is the triumphant return of memorable riffing.  The album is literally choking with the kind of riffs that made ”Face of My Innocence” and “Seven Whispers Fell Silent” so endearing: riffs unabashedly steeped in heavy metalisms, riffs written to rock rather than to impress the listener with their technical excesses.  I read a lot of negative feedback over Starve’s second pre-release single, “Forced to Rock”, mostly centering on its playful, classic metal feel.  And though “Forced to Rock” is the least aggressive and most rock-oriented song on the album, many tracks boast similar rock and heavy metal stylings, which may disappoint some listeners tricked by Arsis’s previous surface aesthetic into believing that they were a serious death metal band rather than a fun arena metal band.  A Celebration of Guilt worked so well because the music was a blast to air-drum to while driving and brimming with energy for the live setting, and Starve for the Devil succeeds for the same reasons, far eclipsing the heavy-handed attempts at more cerebral and brutal death metal of their last two albums.

That’s not to say Starve is all fun and games.  Plenty of heaviness and aggressiveness remain, particularly on “From Soulless to Shattered (Art in Dying).”  And while lacking the freshness, vigor, and ferocity of Celebration - in part due to a squeaky-clean production - Starve stands on its own two legs as the second-best album in the Arsis discography.  Fans will be pleased to hear soaring melodies (“The Ten of Swords”) and prog-metal flirtations (“Beyond Forlorn”), as they show Arsis stretching their capabilities and becoming more comfortable with less flamboyant songwriting.  Those who aren’t alienated by Arsis’s abandonment of the forced seriousness that plagued the last two full-lengths will find Arsis’s relaxed, more conservative approach an enjoyable and welcome return to a more riff-oriented and engaging form of songwriting.

Release Date: February 9th, 2010
Label: Nuclear Blast Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  Forced to Rock
2.  A March for the Sick
3.  From Soulless to Shattered
     (Art in Dying)
4.  Beyond Forlorn
5.  The Ten of Swords
6.  Closer to Cold
7.  Sick Perfection
8.  Half Past Corpse O'Clock
9.  Escape Artist
10.  Sable Rising

Total playing time:  44:17

*By clicking "Submit" you agree to the following Terms of Use. You agree not to post any material that is obscene, slanderous, or threatening, or that may violate any law of your country of origin or the United States or of international law. Should you wish to restrict viewing of your email address by third parties, you must select "Hide My Email." You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Metal Psalter from any claims, actions, suits, damages, or other costs arising out of any breach of these Terms of Use.

*Comments: