THE EYES OF A TRAITOR

I'm all for genre bending, even in this ridiculously saturated metalcore market. But the fact that "A Clear Perception" from the UK's THE EYES OF A TRAITOR features a few compelling arrangements and a willingness to shape-shift its way through well-trodden emo/metalcore landscapes does not mean it is an album worth buying. Sometimes it is best to stop thinking so goddamned much.

OK, OK, that's a tad harsh (only a tad though),but much of "A Clear Perception" sounds less like a fruitful exercise in 'core expansion and more like a messy and misguided attempt at wrapping up aggression in experimental beauty. And yet, beacons of light can be seen from time to time, such as on "Escape these Walls", which succeeds in being a tough, syncopated bruiser with well-placed guitar soloing (an attribute that shines whenever it appears on the album),although the emo vocal treatments kill the buzz. There are a several points like that though; just when the band seems to really be going somewhere, the wheels come off, save for a couples of tunes ("Decorus" and the aggressive "Misconceptions" come to mind). And opener "Under Siege" is just a train wreck, some of it sounding like COAL CHAMBER trying to cover MESHUGGAH, and the clean vocal parts are just atrocious.

Even more simplistically, sometimes "it" works and sometimes "it" doesn't; and things just aren't working very well on "A Clear Perception". Acts like MISERY SIGNALS seem to have brought a few metalcore cynics over to their side by fusing aggression with beauty and writing complexity into compositions without sucking out the passion. That does not mean it is a blueprint that when copied is a guarantor of international success and critical acclaim. The same can be said about the BURST atmospherics heard all over "A Clear Perception". In other words, THE EYES OF A TRAITOR ain't MISERY SIGNALS and they sure as hell ain't BURST.

A few bent time signatures here, a handful of syrupy croons there, and the periodic bouts of syncopated aggression will garner a few nods of appreciation from the skeptical and the pure. Otherwise, only the brainwashed will be bowled over. Maybe I just don't get it. It wouldn't be the first time.