Embodyment - Embrace The Eternal (1998)
Intense mechanical metal machine! That would have been another appropriate title, but I guess "Embrace..." is sufficient. This is a style of music that has been labeled "metalcore" by many people within the industry. All in all that is a very fitting term as it combines intense modern death metal guitar riffs (a ton of palm-muting and some serious harmonics!) with a hardcore vocal approach. Not the scream at the top of your lungs (ie;Focal Point) type but a more unique "harsh" style. Not quite death, not quite thrash, but not nearly hardcore either. This is WAY different than their demo's in the fact that it is more tight and ultra technical and of course the vocals are a more mid-range modern death style rather than the guttural stypreviously displayed. I have heard it said that Embodyment uses a whole albums worth of riffs in every song, I find that to be true! The closest comparison within Christian circles would have to be LIVING SACRIFICE. Bruce (Fitzhugh) does guest vocals on the chorus of one track and you can hardly tell the difference between him and Kris (McCaddon). Technical and precise guitar playing make this disc a musicians dream. This is what extreme metal is all about. -- Review by Norm