Becoming The Archetype is a Christian progressive metalcore/death metal that has been around for quite a long time. To be exact, they formed in 1999. As you could imagine, they have gone through their fair share of member changes but it hasn’t really affected their style too much. Becoming The Archetype’s newest album, I Am, is set to release on September 18th. I Am is the band’s fifth full-length album under their current name (they released one as ‘The Remnant’), all of which have been released via Solid State Records.
Just a few seconds into I Am, I already knew that I was in for a treat. Much like their previous release entitled Celestial Completion, I Am is focused more on progressive elements rather than metalcore. There are several technical riffs and spectacular solos, impressive drumming, and some really good bass lines. A few of my favourite solos can be heard on “The Sky Bearer”, “The War Ender”, “The Weapon Breaker”, “The Planet Maker”. Also, Becoming The Archetype has trimmed down their use of breakdowns, but there are still a few on I Am. When breakdowns are heard, they are usually quite massive (ex: “The Sky Bearer” and “The Sun Eater”).
Not only is I Am impressive instrumentally, the vocals are immaculate. The majority of the vocals are screamed in a mid to low-range fashion, but there are a few instances where the vocalist belts out spine-chilling highs. In addition, there are clean vocals on several tracks (“The Ocean Walker”, “The Sky Bearer”, “The Planet Maker”, and “The Sun Eater”) that sound very alternative metal-ish. Surprisingly, the cleans slot in nicely with the rest of the music and they’re a nice touch.
If you’re looking for a few of the best tracks to listen to, I would suggest “The Time Bender”, “The War Ender”, and “The Planet Maker”. Near the beginning of “The Time Bender”, the guitar sounds like something that The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza would write and Becoming The Archetype pulls it off flawlessly. “The War Ender” is a great track and what makes it stand out to me is that it’s one of the fastest and heaviest tracks on I Am. The track that stands out the most to me, however, is “The Planet Maker”. Right from the first riff, I knew that it was going to be a personal favourite.
Since releasing Terminate Damnation in 2005, Becoming The Archetype has put out solid album after solid album. While I Am is not their best work to date (I believe that title belongs to Dichotomy), it displays loads of progression and maturity from their previous albums, and still maintains some of their original style.
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