Debut album Another Year of Disaster by Swedish metalheads Adept proves that this is a band on the up and coming. Embracing the American metalcore scene, Adept follows in the steps of bands including Atreyu, Underoath, Killswitch Engage and All That Remains. Band members: Robert Lung (vocals), Jacob Papinniemi (guitar), Jerry Repo (guitar), Tobias Ottoson (bass) and Gabriel Hellmark (drums) have let loose a well produced album of metal mayhem for all the world to sink its teeth into and, upon first impression, it is fair to deduce that the world’s teeth will remain sunk. Adept is here to stay.
The first line of the album’s opening track clearly states Adept’s agenda: “We need everyone’s attention!” The Business of Living is a self-proclamatory title, which introduces a band that is consumed with being alive – the hurts and joys associated with living have been channelled into the creation of Another Year of Disaster. The opening song sets the tone of the album: demanding, energetic and equivocal. The Business of Living commands its listeners to take responsibility: “In a world filled with hate -/ We are the hope!/ We are the cure!” The song’s positive message is the antithesis of the hopelessness brutally thrashed out in the relentless Everything Dies. It is this ambiguity that ‘keeps it real’ – life is, after all, a massive lottery of positives and negatives, and that is what listeners will identify with. True to the metalcore style, the band’s sound is a fusion of thrash metal and hardcore punk, with a melodic intrusion. Robert Lung’s vocal ability is extensive. The raw emotion and Attitude (with a capital A) inherent in his voice compliments the band’s representation of life’s erratic properties. Clean vocals (usually in the chorus) are enhanced by the growls, screams and grunts that are most familiar and loved by the metal fraternity. Multi-voice chorus insertions are used effectively in Shark! Shark! Shark!, which showcases the band’s propensity for a musical violence that is enhanced by the song’s quieter moments, which are brief but present.
It is the album’s subtle moments, infiltrating the impassioned aggression of the band’s creative talent, that separate Another Year of Disaster from the masses of debut metal albums that are momentarily saturating the market in a bid to stamp their seal on the industry. Although a tad formulaic, the album emanates a professionalism that is indicative of a band that is prepared to put in the dedication and hard work that is required to get to the top.
*Adept is touring up a storm at the moment and will be in the UK from 11-15 November, performing in London at the Underworld in Camden on November 11.
