Arsis - A Celebration of Guilt CD

ARSIS (Virginia, USA) - A Celebration Of Guilt (Willowtip Records 2004)Arsis is a band that is usually under the radar, and there's usually a reason for that. Most people will agree that their debut is their magnum opus and this album is what I'm talking about.

Musically, "A Celebration of Guilt" is an album that blends Thrash Metal, Technical Death Metal and Melodic Death Metal together without sounding cheesy. These three genres are often considered to be "stale" by metalheads. In addition, there are only two musicians playing on this album: Michael Van Dyne who performs drums, and band leader James Malone who performs vocals, guitars, and bass. The musicianship is top notch for a debut. The two band members display strong influences that are gathered from Morbid Angel, Iron Maiden, Atheist, and Megadeth. Malone's vocals are usually in the Type 3 Metal Scream range, a mid to high pitch scream that occasionally borders on Black Metal shrieks. Malone's guitar playing is strong, with the riffs synchronizing with Van Dyne's drumming perfectly. Also displaying a perfect amount of melody to compensate the technical aspect of the music.

"A Celebration of Guilt" is a fantastic Death Metal debut album and displays strong musicianship. The performing band members thoroughly incorporate their influences in the entire record while sounding unique. The band at their absolute best, highly recommended! **album review originally published on metal-archives.com**  Willowtip ‎– WT-028