Becoming The Archetype - I Am

Last year's Celestial Completion was a huge disappointment for me and I'm sure a bunch of Becoming The Archetype fans. Dichotomy was a heavy record that expanded on the band's black metal influence and while I appreciate the band trying to expand their sound and try new things, the prog-metal stylings of Celestial Completion just didn't work for me.

So I think naturally, there are questions and fears that's arise with I Am. Will BTA continue in their prog-metal ways or are they going back to some black metal influenced metal? Or would the band give us something completely different?

And door number three is what Becoming The Archetype choose.

I Am is brutal and puts anything BTA has done before to shame. Riff after devastating riff, solo after killer solo, there's nothing to hate about I Am.

The intro to The Ocean Walker gives a little hesitance to what is to come but as soon as the track kicks in, all fears are put aside. New vocalist Chris McCane is strong. As much as I loved Jason Wisdom's vocals, McCane's hit with an intensity and brutality that Wisdom never had. The band even gives on a nod to their former orchestral leanings with the instrumental track, The Machine Killer. It's a light moment in a full on assault of metal goodness.

I Am is one of the best metal records I've heard this year, and there have been some great ones. Any fan who was disappointed with Celestial Completion will quickly forgive BTA when they hear I Am.