At first glance, Arisen From Nothing’s “Broken”
has all of the warning signs. Lengthy band name? Check! American flag on the
cover? Check! Unfortunate song titles? Check (“American Patriot”)! Yes, what we
have here is something that is far too influenced by Pantera to be any good.
While the legendary groove band may have had their own great moments, what they
spawned consistently falls short.
In this case, the product is Arisen From
Nothing, a 5-piece from Seattle. Their new EP, “Broken”, is the stereotypical tough
guy metal sounding release. Of course, the mainstream’s tastes have hardened
since Pantera broke through in the 1990s, so Arisen From Nothing’s vocalist's primary tone is quite a bit harsher than Phil Anselmo’s. Unfortunately, he
falls just short of a death growl, landing at an awkward point between yelling
and growling. In particular, he lacks the more guttural side. To make matters
worse, there are moments on this EP where he tries to sing. This is yet another
instance where mixing clean and harsh vocals just doesn’t work. The cleans in
particular are incredibly weak and remind one more of Godsmack (or rather, what I
imagine a band like Godsmack sounds like).
Arisen From Nothing seems to be trying so
hard to both offend people and not offend people at the same time that it
results in a very confused-sounding release. This primarily comes in the form
of their lyrics and imagery, but the real problem is that they’re so
inoffensive musically. They straddle so many lines without actually picking a
style and committing to it (which really is a huge problem with any sort of
groove metal, but that’s another discussion altogether). This EP would be 100
times better if they would thrash their brains out on one of these songs, or
even if they added more shredding. “Better Off Dead” actually has a pretty good
solo in it, but the band should just unleash their lead guitarist and let him
go wild on every song.
“Broken” is a template of how to appeal to
the people whose perception of metal doesn’t extend beyond Pantera. As a fan of
thrash, however, it almost feels like an insult. It takes everything that is
great about thrash and strips it away, leaving only half-baked riffs and the
occasional aggressive moment. Arisen From Nothing obviously didn’t set out to
be a thrash band, but they’re a great example of why groove metal is a
fundamentally flawed subgenre. This EP might only be 20 minutes, but you’re
better off listening to the first half of “Bonded By Blood” for the 1,000th
time.
Highlights
When it ends
Final Rating
2.0/5 or 40%.
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