Seizures

Reverie of the Revolving Diamond

BY Joe Smith-EngelhardtPublished Oct 4, 2019

8
Orange County mathcore crew Seizures are masters at creating wildly interesting soundscapes within metallic hardcore, and their latest record, Reveries of the Revolving Diamond, is a perfect example of how a metal band can succeed at using polarizing sounds seamlessly. The band's latest record is wildly sporadic in moods and sounds, while building each track off what came before, instead of putting together a collection of independent songs.
 
Hard blasts of dissonant aggression are obviously present, but sandwiched between soothing drones of ambient melodies, they come out startlingly harsh. Tracks like "The Cycles Unnumbered" or "In A Valley Of Twilit Meres" can feel like a soundtrack to a dream at one moment, and in the next, they swiftly jolt the senses with highly technical, off-kilter riffs. The album has an ebb and flow to it where an instrumental song like "On Saturnine Shores" can be entirely made with mellow, clean tones, but is followed by frantic noise on "Eru."
 
They pull off a great sense of writing weird grooves instead of relying solely on tried-and-true metal riffing, particularly on "Bedlam Blues" and "Of Indigo and Seven Crows." Overall, though, they have plenty of different things going on musically across the entire record that are engaging and delicately planned so as not to waste any time.
 
While Seizures have previously created a great collection of songs, Reveries of the Revolving Diamond feels like a more fully composed record. The band have crafted an album that works best as a complete listen, as it strategically plays with moods like a rollercoaster.
(Sun Terrace)

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