Mixing dance music and metal is not new, despite what many may have you believe, but balancing the two is certainly a skill. For every dance act incorporating guitars and breakdowns, there is a metal band shoehorning in bleeps and squeaks. Success lies in knowing how far to push it. Bookended by two pure-electro numbers, ‘Xeno’ is very much metal, complemented by sweeps of drum n bass. The album is essentially the best of the last album, ‘Apocalyze’, extended, repeated, inflated and injected with nu-metal. Songs like ‘Raise Your Voice’, ‘Devil’s Party’, ‘Vanguard’ and the title track owe more than a slight nod to acts like Slipknot and Spineshank, while Benji Webbe collaboration ‘Wildfire’ (a dream-team punks-invading-Ibiza party soundclash anthem if ever there was one) is all the more remarkable for how normal a dubstep-ragga-metal-punk-hip-hop mash-up sounds in 2015. In short, this is most definitely one of the successful ones and should delight metal and EDM fans both old and new.
Categories: Album Reviews, Reviews
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