Metrum - You Know

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Taking a break from reviewing has given me a breath of fresh air, enough so to tackle the immense musical project that is the new album from Alternative Metallers METRUM. Not from any one country, the band draws their roots from Austria, Germany and the US. Incredibly hard to pin down into any one genre, they draw from a myriad of styles; Progressive elements in their rhythm section, a peculiar ‘yarling’ approach to vocals (such as found in CREED (no offense, Alexander), catchy chord progressions and darkly, layered arrangements.

It is perhaps the stark contrast between the vocals and the music that cause METRUM to stand out. On their newest album, titled “You Know”, we are treated to an exceptionally clean-cut production; the vocals and instrumentation are two shining facets of different hue on this gem of an album. “Red Carpet” begins with a strong Progressive atmosphere, not too dissimilar to Brazilian Prog-Alt metallers MINDFLOW, especially in the crisp and pure guitar/bass tone. When Alexander’s vocals kick in, you’ll be taken aback, for better or for worse; unique is an understatement. Although clearly capable of a roaring, raucous, Hetfield-like vocal delivery, as best shown in the chorus, his ‘croony’ voice in other parts of the album almost comes off as shaky and dramatized, especially in the chorus for “Sent To War”. The latter comes across as run-of-the-mill, Ameri-hash radio Alt-rock; by far not the strongest track on the album; the arrangement doesn’t blow me away, but the lyrics sure hit home.

In fact, I would contend that the lyrics are one of the album’s stronger points. Tracks like “Egomaniacs” and “Torture Me” are incredibly well-written, and take a much more avant-garde approach to the band’s own special style of music, much like something I could expect from ALICE IN CHAINS or A PERFECT CIRCLE. One of my favourite tracks on the album, “Predjudice” is incredibly well-arranged; what started off as what I thought would be a ballad, with acoustic-driven verses and airy production soon exploded into chunk and aggressive choruses, in which the band brings the hammer down with concussive force.

METRUM, and at the very least the new album, are certainly an acquired taste; a taste my ears still reflexively twinge at. I can’t tell if it’s trying to be sickly commercial at times, but I tend to forget about that when the weird and whacky instrumentation and vocal stylings kick in. At least they sound like one kickass live act.