Sceptic - Pathetic Being

(07 May 2011)

If a band or an artist gets an album out there, it's usually expected that they have at least the tiniest bit of talent. I mean, even stuff like Bring Me the Horizon has eventually (sort of) proven its worth, and even in their dark days, there was maybe a speck of potential. But these guys Sceptic, well, even at that they don't differ from the norm. All the musicians here are quite accomplished, and every now and then they will let out the odd interesting riff, or, if they're on a roll, the interesting bunch of riffs and/or transitions. But, for the most part, this is about as interesting as watching a larva transform before your eyes into a beautiful larva.

The best thing about Death Metal, in my opinion, is the way the songs just follow their own path without following a Mandatory Song Structure. Sceptic instead decided on this album to make it so that you can always tell what's coming next and EXACTLY when "next" will come. I think I can count on my fingers how many times I was genuinely surprised while listening to this. That may have been okay if the songs didn't just go on without any kind of dynamics, though. Instead, on Pathetic Being you sorta have the thrashier verse here, a headbangy part there, maybe an "unexpected" tempo and time signature change somewhere after the headbangy part, a nice melodic part where the same chord progression can once again be recycled, and of course, there are the mandatory \m/ !!!SOLOS!!! \m/, but all this stuff doesn't really make anything more exciting. As for the solos, well, they're on par with everything else, just probably harder to play. There was one or two really good ones, but that's pretty much it. You can sometimes almost feel the frustration of the bassist and the drummer, who really try to make the album worth it.

So, how do I feel about this sophomore release? I feel trolled. Just as the album is coming to an end, you come unto "Particles of Time", where all that was bad so far about the album works in favor of this one song to create one fantastic composition. And then, just as you think that maybe the album is not that bad after all, "Children's Eyes" comes in to reintroduce you to the sad truth. And still the drummer and the bassist try.

My verdict is that if you ever look up the word "stock" in a dictionary, this album's cover most probably won't be there. How predictable...

Standout tracks:

Intro
Incapable Rulers
Particles Of Time