For nearly two years, I have refused to touch this album. I have forced myself to look away from it when I had to look at it while tidying up my record collection. I haven't let it leave my record collection to go near the CD player. I have strongly considered selling it off just so that it wouldn't be polluting my record collection any longer. Yet I couldn't make myself get rid of it, for I'm a bit of a collector when it comes to records and I don't want to get rid of anything unless I have a VERY good reason that isn't related to the quality of the material. And so it is that I finally decided that it was time to give this the listen it deserved, knowing that I could put nearly two years of fear behind me once I'd got through this album and could then rest easy, knowing that the album would never torment my soul again once I had finished with it. So, grab your crucifix and light your torch, for you shall descend with me into the depths of hell to find out whether the unholy demon I'd perceived this album to be was truly the terror I'd first thought it was or a poor album that, in my haste to despise it, I'd unfairly built up to become some kind of monster.
For those of you who aren't aware of The Browning, they started in 2005 as a crunkcore solo project for lead vocalist and programmer Jonny Mcbee (who had a brief stint on vocals in As Blood Runs Black in 2009). The band got a rapper named Matt Keck joining them in 2009, but he left in 2010 to become a comedian after recording for the band's first EP. They then became a full band, changed their sound to electronicore (think deathcore (think death metal meets metalcore) meets electronic music), released their second EP in April 2011 and, in October 2011, released their debut album on an unsuspecting world thanks to Earache Records. The band are still going now and even released their second album in October 2013, Hypernova. So, somebody must be buying their stuff!
First, let's take a look at the cover art. I have to say, I'm surprised I didn't guess it might be an electronicore album with the benefit of hindsight, as it does kind of give you a few less than subtle hints in the way it's designed. That said, I'd say it's still a fairly cool cover! It's not brilliant on a lot of levels, but there's something about it which I just think is very appropriate for the genre the band are playing!
Let me get the negatives out of the way now: this album drags a hell of a lot. It's not exactly an album that feels like it goes by quickly, which is a bit of an issue when you consider the band's sound could be fairly nicknamed dance metal if you wanted to. It also sounds rather unpleasant to listen to before you get past the culture shock of it, which means that you'll need to be willing to give it more than one listen before you start to really click with it. This definitely puts it pretty far into love it or hate it territory, which arguably isn't helped by the fact that most people will wonder away from this with a pretty bad first impression of it. Another issue is that there's not a lot of variety in the album: a lot of the songs will blend together if you just listen to the album in one go. This isn't necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, but I personally tend to find that albums without a lot of variety tend to leave me bored. I'd also say that there isn't really any songs that really stand out much, although none of them are outright bad either.
The positives? Well, it's well performed and...that's about it, to be honest. It's got a rather unique sound to it that will take some getting used to, but being unique doesn't necessarily make you better than a band doing the same thing as another band better than you are doing your own unique thing. Since most of the material on this album blends together, this uniqueness stops feeling like a positive after a while and starts merely being something that will occasionally have you going "OK, I've not heard that before...could you do something else with that sound?"
The big issue is that the album just doesn't give me anything to work with and exists in a bit of a paradox: it's not an especially interesting album, as the material just leaves me going "Meh" most of the time, but it's such a unique listening experience that I find myself wanting to hear more of it. It's not necessarily a BAD record, but it's hard to say there's anything wrong with it beyond going into the few factors I've already brought up. It's really weird to describe it, but the best way I can put it is that it's dull, but it's unique at the same time. You can throw this on and won't find a single track that I'd say is worth listening to a lot of, but the band's sound is so interesting to listen to once you get used to it that you kind of find yourself wanting to throw it on again once you've finished listening to it. There's nothing objectively BAD about this record, there's just nothing especially GOOD about it either once you realise that the unique sound the band has achieved doesn't provide you with anything more than a faint "Eh, that's not too bad, I guess".
The production is OK, I guess. Same issues I keep bringing up, but nothing outright bad about it springs to mind. Probably suffers from a few of the cliches of extreme metal production, but not to an extent where I was picking it up.
So yeah...the trip to hell turned out to just be a walk into a small cave. I guess I'm glad I gave this the chance I did when I decided to review it, as it's revealed that my first impressions of it were rather unfair, but I still wouldn't say it's an album really worth owning. There's no material on it that's really worth checking out and the sound the band went for WILL take some getting used to. However, at the same time, I'd say it's worth giving the band a listen if you aren't opposed to electronicore, as it's really quite an interesting listening experience in that regard. So...check it out if you like the idea of electronicore, but don't expect to come away with any real impression of the album beyond "Eh, it's not bad".
Final Rating: 4 Out Of 10
Without any real highlights, the album is a bit of a snoozefest and has a few issues which drag it down a bit more. However, you might want to check this out if you like the thought of electronic music mixed with extreme metal, as it's really interesting to listen to. Just be aware that these guys aren't anything special before you get too excited about them...
Personal Favourite Tracks: technically, none, but I do think "Bloodlust", "Standing On The Edge", "Burn This World" and "Living Dead" are among the best of the bunch and would recommend them if you really want to hear something from this album.
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