Becoming the Archetype - Celestial Completion

Dichotomy was the record where I noticed Becoming the Archetype. Terminate Damnation and the Physics of Fire just weren't doing anything for me. But Dichotomy was different. So I was looking forward to Celestial Completion. Where was Becoming the Archetype going to go on this record?

Celestial Completion has been a difficult record for me to wrap my head around. I like the record... At moments.

After an orchestral metal intro, flute and choir lead, The Magnetic Sky kicks in with a standard deathcore/metalcore riff that takes me by surprise, as it's the last thing you'd expect to hear from BTA. It's a weird song for me right out of the gate. Maybe it's more prog-metal then I was expecting. The clean vocals on the hook are nice and the song is excellent. But it's more Mastodon (whom I love) then the death metal I was hoping for.

Internal Illumination is more of what I was expecting to hear from BTA. Hard hitting metal. But then Path of the Beam starts in a similar deathcore fashion that the Magnetic Sky did. The song is a mix between BTA death metal, deathcore, and prog-metal. Elemental Wrath and Xenosynthesis are both solid metal songs. The guitar solos are killer on both tracks.

Cardiac Rebellion is a track that leaves me scratching my head. Every time I hear the song I think "Why the hell is there a skacore song in the middle of this album?" It doesn't make sense and completely draws me out of the album.

There are moments on Celestial Completion that are great and a nice follow up to Dichotomy, without every sounding like Dichotomy. And I will give props to Becoming the Archetype for trying new things and expand their sound. It's not proggy enough to be their Crack the Skye but the prog elements are good enough that BTA could expand on them with their next record and really blow fans away with a killer album.

The good does outweigh the bad on Celestial Completion. I just wish there weren't so many head scratching moments.