It Lies Within is a five-piece metalcore band from Flint, Michigan that formed in 2008. In 2009, they self-released an EP entitled Fears Of Yesterday. Two years later, they signed to Luxor Records, and now they’re set to release their debut full length, Chrysalis, on September 4th.
The album as a whole flows pretty well, but there are a few tracks that seem to sound all over the place (“Redefined Identity” and “Thoughts Of Nevaeh” come to mind). Another thing that I’d like to mention right off the bat is that the instrumentation is pretty standard for metalcore. You’ll hear a lot of familiar riffs, a plethora of breakdowns, and a fair bit of chugging during your listen of Chrysalis. With that being said, there are a few moments where the guitarists shine. A few things to make note of are the decent solo in the album opener, “We The Betrayed”, the awesome guitar lead heard on “Find Your Truth”, the tapping on the instrumental track (“Interlude”), and the entirety of the final track, “Now Or Never”, which is my personal favourite song on the album.
The vocalist of It Lies Within sounds a lot like Alex Koehler of Chelsea Grin at times. His vocals are pretty brutal for a metalcore band and they fit with the rest of the band well. The cleans, on the other hand, fail to fit quite as well. Chyrsalis has quite a few clean sung choruses that are neither good nor bad. What I mean is that the cleans don’t improve or worsen the band’s overall sound, they’re just kind of there.
Overall, Chrysalis is not too shabby. While I did find it to be a tad generic, it was still a fun listen. If you’re looking for a place to start before you delve into this 35-minute album, I would recommened listening to “Find Your Truth”, “Foundations”, or “Now Or Never”. The aforementioned tracks are definitely the strongest on Chrysalis.
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