The Faceless – Akeldama

California technical/progressive death metal band The Faceless charged onto the scene in 2006 with their debut album Akeldama. The album was a solid slab of metal, showing great potential for the quintet. Well, its two years later, and with a steady drummer on-board, The Faceless is spinning a tale of an alien invasion on Earth with Planetary Duality. The band’s progression is striking, not only instrumentally, but in the heightened sense of melody in the songwriting. The Faceless took great strides in distancing themselves from everybody else in the genre, but there are a few bumps in the road along the way.

The running length is an issue that may irk some fans. Planetary Duality clocks in at 31 minutes, which is shorter than their debut album. Some may make the argument about quality over quantity, and while Planetary Duality has a lot going for it in the former category, the inclusion of a few filler tracks is disappointing. While Akeldama was short, at least all eight tracks had a sense of identity and purpose. “Shape Shifters” and “Planetary Duality I: Hideous Revelation” are instrumentals, with the latter having samples of a man wildly explaining the existence of an alien race. Opener “Prison Born” is a quick and furious way to start Planetary Duality, but it doesn’t even reach the two minute mark, making more of an extended introduction than anything.

So there are really only six tracks on Planetary Duality. Good thing, then, that all of the tracks are a big leap from Akeldama, leaving most of the breakdowns behind in favor of showing a more progressive side of the band. “The Ancient Covenant” is one of the fastest tracks on the album, with a killer bass solo in the beginning and the duo of Keene and Jones trading off solos and riffs like two madmen on the run. Throughout the album, The Faceless dabbles with keyboards (“XenoChrist” and “Legion Of The Serpent”) and even evokes a black metal feel from time to time (“Sons Of Belial”). Keene’s clean vocals are used sparingly, to great effect, and his vocoder work is more present than on the debut album.

Planetary Duality could have been much more than the final product turned out to be. With a crushing production by Keene and the music at a high level of intensity, The Faceless pushed themselves with a varied and structurally-sound sophomore album. Even though the instrumentals are placed on the album for atmospheric purposes, it doesn’t hide the fact that there is only about 28 minutes worth of valuable music on here. For some, that will be enough, but in my mind, Planetary Duality needed another track or two to really push itself into a whole other category. Instead, it is nothing more than an engaging follow-up to Akeldama..

Rating: 7/10
Label: Sumerian Records
Website: http://www.myspace.com/thefaceless

By Dan Marsicano

(+43 rating, 10 votes)

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