How Tedious is a Guilty Conscience (A Celebration Of Guilt - Arsis)

Member Name: Frankingsteins

Product:	A Celebration Of Guilt - Arsis
Date:	28/01/08 (33 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Inventive and excellent melodic death metal.

Disadvantages: Lack of variety for those used to the Gothenburg scene.

'A Celebration of Guilt' has to be one of the strongest death metal debuts of all time, and most shocking of all is its origin in Virginia. The United States may have invented death metal back in the eighties, but since then it's the innovative Scandinavian bands that have dominated the scene and defined the archetypes copied by their legions of imitators. Perhaps because of their distance from the increasingly stale Gothenburg scene, Arsis produced an incredibly powerful and consistent album of melodic death metal performed in the authentic way with a considerable degree of virtuosity and creativity on the part of James Malone, the guitarist/vocalist/bassist opposite the similarly talented Michael Van Dyne, which avoids the pitfalls that come from listening to too much In Flames and Dark Tranquillity and aspiring to be exactly like them.

There's a distinct, home-soil thrash influence here, the likes of which hasn't really been seen in melodic death since Dismember despite attempts by At the Gates spin-offs like The Haunted, and a creative flair that I wouldn't go so far as to describe as progressive, but that will certainly make this of greater interest to guitar fans. This is melodic death metal as it ought to sound, without jarring acoustic or atmospheric breaks, or lead guitar melodies stolen from Iron Maiden; across forty-five minutes, this is relentlessly heavy and energetic without sounding repetitive or running out of steam. It's what every death metal band should aspire to, but some fall short of due to lack of ideas or ability.

Every song here is an instant classic, and the publicity this release duly received will hopefully continue to inspire melodic death metal bands, rather than merely lead to a new batch of imitators. The only real problem with this album is that it would have been really great if it had been released about five years earlier, but never mind.

1. The Face of My Innocence
2. Maddening Disdain
3. Seven Whispers Fell Silent
4. Return
5. Worship Depraved
6. Carnal Ways to Recreate the Heart
7. Dust and Guilt
8. Elegant and Perverse
9. The Sadistic Motives Behind Bereavement Letters
10. Looking to Nothing
11. Wholly Night

Summary: Arsis' first album (2004).