Regardless of the band abstaining from classifying their music to any other branch than metal, Chad Hanish (guitars/vocals) described this album to us as Symphonic Deathcore, and while I´m grateful that he took the time to explain this, I don´t think it was truly necessary.
That´s simply because I have absolutely no clue as to what to expect when reading those words; what I do happen to recognize are some electronica bits fused within the structure of the songs, which at times reminded me of early Chimaira, however distant that may sound. I can also hear some Fallujah buried in the background, while the vocals eerily resemble those of Tim Lambesis from As I Lay Dying.
Influences left aside though, Rogue Empire is not like any of those bands, as the music has its own identity and will probably make me forever associate them with this weirdly satisfying term that is Symphonic Deathcore (hey, that´s a win there, right guys? :) )
As I´m writing this, I have kicked up the volume from the speakers and I can say that I´m enjoying the hell out of this record, and while I´m not really one of those guys that go searching for breakdowns, the one in ´Ghost´ kind of took me be surprise. Female vocals are also a nice touch, they arrived at just about the right time to add some variation to the songs.
One itsy-bitsy-tiny suggestion though: will you please, in the name of our Holy Metal Lord, work on your guitar solos? Because at this point they feel more like exercises on the fret board than actual melodies, and it kind of takes the whole fun out of the songs…
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