Checkmate: Immanence

Debut albums are always fun to hear. After all, this is the moment bands have dreamed about and looked forward to since they first come together. After all the hard work of learning to play, write music, and perform live, band members finally have something they can point to and say "this is mine."

With Immanence, the French band Checkmate offers fans the chance to discover their music, the sound they've been honing over the last couple of years. They've done a good job. The music here is a strong and energetic set of songs mostly made up of a cup of hardcore, an ounce of metalcore, and a soupçon of melodic death metal. Whereas some bands like this alternate too much between the harder edge and the melodic passage, Checkmate leans on the heavier side of things, always adding another layer of aggressive and crushing musical passages. Fans of metalcore that prefer harder grooves will find much to like here.

On the whole, this is a very solid debut album by a very promising and talented band. My favorite track was probably "IMA" because of its long and crunchy distorted opening. There are, however, lots of other highlights including "Days Slip By," "Invictus," and "Fragments." This is definitely an album worth checking out.

Track Listing:
1. Days Slip By
2. Fake Golden Kingdom
3. Invictus
4. IMA
5. Moving Backwards
6. Despite the Years
7. Blank Page
8. Fragments
9. A Maze
10. My Any Means Necessary

Added: August 16th 2013
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
Hits: 1586
Language: english

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