Oh lord, oh lord, oh lord. Some things just can't be any heavier unless you turn the distortion to "f**king insane."* Freya has done such a thing and it is called Lift the Curse. And crazy distortion is just the beginning for this album. The riffs are just plain solid and everything melts together in a strange "just plain heavy" type of music. In the beginning, I was a bit thrown off at the somewhat typical "Yeaaa!!" that you hear at the beginning of nearly every hardcore/metalcore song, but things step quickly into what I would consider a usually unheard tone. The mix of the two guitars sends a real metallic sound to your ear drums and it's something I know I usually don't hear--AKA: a good thing. Topping this wonderful sundae of metal, the vocals on this album push the scratching and screaming of the rest of the music creating a punch-your-face-in type of mood. Can I get a "Hell yea!"?
Once more, the distortion on the guitars (bass included) is cranked to the max. In many cases, this would really break a band through annoying back noise and scratchy guitar noises, but in the case of Freya it defines them. The extra scratchy sound makes even the bass sound straight up heavier than usual giving you all the reason to break a chair or a child's face in what I like to call "metal rage." Aside from just the distortion, the album is full of creative riffs and many spots ready for headbanging (which is always a plus). Outside of being just another hardcore/metalcore band, Freya has added a new idea into what I would call heavy. I would probably toss this album to people who are just looking for some new metalcore that isn't just effing breakdowns. Overall, I'm adding this to my library for a few more headbanging listens.
* this type of distortion is only known to be available within studios built with lead walls (due to the fact that this type of distortion is known to push out massive amounts of metal radiation that can only be stopped by six to ten inches of pure lead)
Track Listing:
1. Threads Of Life
2. Suffer Not One
3. Only The Martyrs
4. Down To The Last
5. Through The Eyes Of The Angel Of Death
6. Alleviate
7. Lift The Curse
8. Lilith
9. Born In Blood
10. War Pigs