Strange that a four song taster from a new band of veterans should take time to grow on you. But that is the way with Rise From Treason from super-Swedes The Resistance. Let’s get it out of the way: The Resistance has serious pedigree with guitarists Jesper Stromblad and Glenn Ljungstrom coming from In Flames and singer Marco Aro being the former throat of the Haunted.
With four songs clocking in at under 16 minutes, Rise From Treason should be a quick blast of Swedish metal-core. Well it is. Kind of. There’s no denying either the intensity or the riffage of this EP. This is definitely more savage than anything In Flames has done in a good long while. In addition drummer Chris Barkensjo is a powerhouse.
Do the four tracks take time to grow or is this style simply played out? I think it’s the former. The real wallop is the two middle cuts — “Face to Face” and “Rise from Treason” — which both mix precise yet brutal guitar work and barked but just-melodic-enough vocals from Aro. The remaining two tracks (particularly the opening “My Fire”) aren’t necessarily bad but simply less than the other two. And on an EP this short, that’s simply not enough to carry the entire thing through. A full-length is due later this year and should show more dynamic than this brief introduction.
Label: Armoury Records (CD format can be purchased here)
