Email the reviewerEpicurean, "A Consequence of Design"
A Consequence of Design is an eleven track disc where only one track is shorter than five minutes. The music is all melodic metal with a heavy-handed dose of Dimmu-influenced symphonic keyboards and vocal deliveries that more than merely reminisce of metalcore (read: there are hardcore screams, and clean vox mixed in liberally here). The production is decent, but nothing to write home about…in fact, it’s a little sterile and dry for a group that’s clearly looking for a deep, warm sound. Summing these aspects up, results in a listenable, though trying concoction of bloated, self-satisfied post-Gothenburg meets symphonic Norway meets So-Cal metalcore/melodic, blackened death. It all just ends up being too much to take seriously. There’s a lot of fat on the album that could have and should have been trimmed way down. If the next producer takes a butcher knife (or maybe a chainsaw) to these pretentious arrangements, and then insists that Epicurean tighten everything up two notches, we’ll be in business. Until then, A Consequence of Design falls on my rubbish heap as a consequence of its own design. The word epicurean may mean someone who indulges in physical pleasures, but its also is someone who really enjoys food and drink…at this point the band hasn’t convinced me that they’re not describing themselves as the latter, as the excess on this disc results in obesity, not ecstasy.
Peter Johnston
