Celestial Muffin

Christian progressive death metal maestros Becoming the Archetype are back with their follow-up to 2008’s incredible work of art Dichotomy. This four piece band has proven that they have talent through their previous three releases, and they’ve shown that they have no problem in trying to continue evolving their sound and growing as musicians. Their fourth studio album, Celestial Completion, is a continuation of this evolution, and a bold one at that.

A bit of synthesizer courtesy of “Count Seth” Hecox and a small choir lead us in to this album, as the drums, manned by Brent “Duck” Duckett, bass, helmed by vocalist Jason Wisdom, and guitar, wielded by Daniel Gailey are added to the mix  before “The Resonant Frequency of Flesh” fades out. “Magnetic Sky” kicks in right away with a dual guitar onslaught of Count Seth and Daniel before Jason’s growls come into the picture. Seth and Daniel also provide the clean vocals on the album, and they do a magnificent job of it, especially in this song. You’ll have it stuck in your head for days after the first listen. They move to a little more death metal influenced style with “Internal Illumination”. Guitars, synth, bass, and drums all form the perfect setting for Jason’s brutal growls. And just to sweeten the deal, the breakdown at the end of the song feels like a throwback to the old school Solid State Records roster. “Path of the Beam” proves that BtA has a knack for writing some of the catchiest intros in metal. Some excellent work on the guitar by Daniel and Seth and Count’s keyboard accents complement the duo’s clean vocals throughout the track.

This brings us to the first instrumental track: “Music of the Spheres: Requiem Aeternam I”. Count Seth takes the lead on the piano for this beautiful piece. The brutal comes back in “Elemental Wrath: Requiem Aeternam II” with a single guitar and kick drum preparing the way for the brutality that is to come. Jason brings up the vocoder to give his screams a robotic/electronic tinge that works really well with this track. “Xenosynthesis: Requiem Aeternam III” brings us to the end of the “Requiem Aeternam” saga with a great death metal song that’s heavy on the atmospheric synth and even has a beautiful soprano part. “Invisible Creature” is the other instrumental on Celestial Completion, and it will catch you off guard. It’s got a Middle Eastern feel to it and is led by a sitar. However, it leads perfectly into my absolute favorite track on the album “Cardiac Rebellion”. Jason moves back to the vocoder for the verses, and the boys of BtA pull some gang vocals for the chorus, which you will be shouting along to in no time. You also get just a hint of trombone mixed in. Just after the halfway mark, they switch to some clean guitar work before moving into a full-blown bluesy swing piece, complete with trombone and a wicked lead guitar part. “Reflect/Refract” moves back to a more traditional progressive death sound, and they close with “Breathing Light”, a powerhouse of a song with beautiful lead guitar work, synth that complements the music perfectly and a brilliant combination of growls and singing with some gang vocals tossed in for good measure.

Becoming the Archetype has done it again. They’ve crafted a musical masterpiece that shows growth and a desire to really push the limits of the music scene. Celestial Completion is an epic journey that no one should miss out on. I know it will definitely be returning to my playlist again and again.