Mukiltearth

The Fall of Troy

Mukiltearth is an interesting record because it features both the oldest material the band has written as well as the most recent. If this record is anything, it's a testament to how far the band has come since the days of The Thirty Years War. The band has always been insanely talented from the get go; pumping out busy riffs, intricate drumming, and sweet or sour vocals. The last four tracks, however, show how refined the band's songwriting has become since then. In the early days, the band was definitely operating on a formula which becomes quite apparent when comparing the openings of A Tribute to Orville Wilcox, The Day the Strength of Men Failed, and Knife Fight At the Mormon Church. Today the band is much more exciting and unpredictable. Nevertheless, it was really cool hearing re-recordings of songs I use to geek out on at the height of my obsession with this band.

The production on this record is surprisingly more raw than their last record which is totally up my ally. I really appreciate that The Fall of Troy continue to go against the grain when it comes to modern punk/metal production. There is space and separation between instruments and it doesn't have that stifling feeling that plague many other records in this genre. The only aspect of the record's sound I didn't really like was Thomas' screams on the early material. I'm not sure if it was the performance or the mixing, but his screams sound really fried out. There's no real body to them and even for me, they start to grate on the ear. Thankfully, on the four new tracks, the vocals sound much better.

Every time The Fall of Troy blesses the world with a new record, it is an occasion to celebrate. Even if this is not my favourite album of theirs, it still possesses all the characteristics that make The Fall of Troy such an amazing band. The band's future is always up in the air, but the new material at the end proves the band still has the ability to create innovative, and boundary pushing modern metal. I hope this record does not serve as a career bookend.