No Muffin Revealed

What would happen if power metal and metalcore had a baby? Affiance, that's what. With soaring vocals and pummeling guitars, these boys are doing something original, and I like it. A five piece from Ohio, Affiance recently signed to Bullet Tooth Records for the release of their first full-length album No Secret Revealed.

The Ohio quintet won me over immediately by doing something I was fairly certain had been forgotten. They used a sound clip (from the movie Network) for the first track "Mad As Hell". I loved hearing bands throw audio bites from movies or TV shows into their songs. The musical part of the album kicks in right after that with "Call To The Warrior", and Dennis Tvrdik's (don't ask me how to pronounce his last name, 'cause I have no idea) vocals will probably catch you as off guard as they caught me. He has an almost power metal quality as his range soars to highs generally reserved for those wearing tight leather pants and crazy face makeup. The rest of the music fits into a finely tuned metalcore style. On this song, as on several others throughout the album, Tvrdik's melody is matched by Dominic Dickinson's growling vocals.

"Nostra Culpa" follows suit with excellent guitar and drum work setting the stage for Tvrdik and his incredible range, with sprinklings of Dickinson's brutal touch. Up next is "For Power" which uses fast, heavy verses to lead into a slower, more technical chorus and a bridge that builds to a thundering crescendo. Track five, "A Monster Fed" opens with some complex picking and tapping before Tvrdik's vocals come in and carry us away. "The Hive" really shows what Affiance can do with it's brand of metal. The guitars are incredibly executed, the vocals have a beautiful layering to them, and the drum work is very tight and polished.

The next song, "A Reading From The Book Of" opens with a breakdown. 'Nuff said. "Der Fuhrer" is the first song on the album that combines power metal-esque guitars with the vocal style that gives Affiance its unique sound. With a sound that would make the greats of metalcore proud, "Dissent!" opens with a fast, technical riff reminiscent of War Of Ages. The final song on this album, "Calculate And Control", takes a little more of a melodic route musically on the intro, with slower, softer guitars and atmospheric drums that build to the heaviness we've come to expect from Affiance. In keeping with the way they opened the album, they close with another sound bite.




I did have one complaint on this album, though. The vocals are turned way up in the mix. It's not so much that you can't hear the instruments, but it is an obvious production flaw that will need to be remedied on their next album. Beyond that, No Secret Revealed is a breath of creativity into the metal scene. Be sure to check this one out.