Calmed By The Tides Of Rain is what I would dub the Russian equivalent of U.S. deathcore/metalcore band The Acacia Strain, but with more of a death metal vibe and with more staying power. Listen, I know when some of you are seeing deathcore/metalcore in a review you’re gonna want to run for the hills, but if you like real heavy downtuned music, you may want to give this Russian act your time. I have felt the last 2 Acacia Strain albums have been rather boring, going for a drone like Meshuggah copycat sound, but nowhere as good and their songs just dragging until I wanted to slam my head into the wall. Luckily CBTTOR do not fall into that pit, too often.

“They Will Repent” has some outstanding, killer breakdowns and one thing is evident-this is really heavy. Vocals are pure death metal, with some gang shouts on certain parts of the albums and this is how true downtuned deathcore should be played. Very memorable. “Consequences” is another song that demolishes and just listen to the 2.40 mark to hear how insanely heavy music can get.

The production is in your face, punchy and the drums sound magnificent. No blast beating on the album, just slow to mid paced throughout the album. All the instruments have clear separation and you can pick out the nuances of the bass chords and killer growls. This is also an album that sounds killer on a stereo or with your earbuds on, cranking out your iPod, really heavy.

“Black” has such an amazing buildup and the 35 second mark, right at the beginning, helps to slightly prepare you for such an onslaught of a slam that after hearing this part you will possibly be lifting up mobile homes and tossing them around in a whirlwind tornado frenzy. The 2.20 mark of “Black” has some killer stop/start riffing with a bass slide coming a few seconds later that eventually goes into what I can best call a disturbingly violent slam.

Some of the other tracks will have a slightly similar feel, but when the band throws in a pinch harmonic or hits you with another slam that you will headbang to non-stop this really stops the album from becoming monotonous. Really one of the best deathcore albums, and heaviest albums you will hear all year. The album cover is from the same dude who did the Fallujah cover and it is breathtaking. The song lyrics to the classic “Bleed for the Godz”, from Agent Steel comes to mind when looking at the cover, if you know the lyrics you will know what I’m talking about. Beautiful digi-pak, with a fold out mini-poster containing the lyrics. The band is right now putting the finishing touches on an ep, called Hives and my interview with the band will be coming in the future. For now-you need to own Phaeton!

[Visit the band's website]

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