(Andy Synn takes a look at the new album from Allegaeon, where everything old is new again)
To misquote Oscar Wilde:
“…to lose one singer may be regarded as misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness.“
Now, of course, I’m not blaming Allegaeon or saying they’ve done anything wrong, as the departures of both vocalists – with original screamer Ezra Haynes submitting his resignation in 2015 and his replacement, Riley McShane, handing in his marching papers in 2022 – seemed to be pretty amicable, all things considered.
But it’s certainly true that their vocal issues have a tendency to come at inconvenient times, just as the band are really hitting their stride (both creatively and commercially)… which is precisely why it’s understandable that the band would choose to bring Haynes back into the fold for another ride, as his instantly-recognisable voice and distinctive delivery definitely played a big part in putting the band on the map in their early years.
Of course, as we all know, trying to rekindle any sort of relationship after time spent separated is always a risk – what if you’ve simply grown too far apart to ever reconnect? – so the biggest question which The Ossuary Lens (out next week) has to answer is… is the chemistry still there, or is this rekindled romance doomed to fizzle out?
Now, if I’m going to be brutally honest, my first impressions of the album weren’t all that promising – in truth neither of the two pre-release tracks (especially “Driftwood”, which might just be the most “by the numbers” piece the band have ever written) really live up to the band’s full potential in my opinion – raising fears that the flashes of the old magic found on preceding stand-alone singles “Inhumation” and “Irridescent” might just have been a temporary state of affairs.
Thankfully the full version of the record goes a long way towards addressing these concerns, with tracks like hook-heavy opener “Chaos Theory” and the unrelentingly intense “Dies Irae” successfully recapturing a similar vibe to the band’s Fragments/Formshifter/Elements days… even if there remains the occasional nagging sense that the group are still sometimes writing with McShane in mind, rather than playing more towards Haynes’s particular strengths.
That being said, things finally start to click back into place during “Carried By Delusion” – which balances Haynes’s aggressive, authoritative growl against the proggy-yet-punchy melodic fretwork of Burgess and Stancel in a manner which feels more like an organic marriage of the band’s two distinct eras – and then really pick up with “Dark Matter Dynamics”, whose intricate integration of eloquent melody, technical wizardy, and hooky riffosity (plus a classically iconic Allegaeon song title) marks it out as one of the album’s major highlights.
Speaking of highlights… the album hits its apex with the gloomy grandeur and gargantuan grooves of “Wake Circling Above”, which not only serves as a prime showcase for the band’s stellar songwriting – moving back and forth between contemplation and catharsis as the song progresses – but also allows Haynes to stretch his particular skill set even further during the song’s outstanding clean-sung chorus, proving that while he may not have McShane’s range (something which I don’t think he’d deny) he’s more than capable of stepping up to the plate if and when the rest of the band are willing to meet him on his terms.
And that really sums up what makes the second half of The Ossuary Lens – including the absolute scorcher that is “Imperial” and powerhouse closer “Scythe” (which once again allows Haynes to flex his increasingly versatile vocal muscles) – that much stronger… as the whole band just seem that much more in sync, to the point where it almost feels like they’re picking up right where they left off in 2015, only with everyone involved being that little bit older, that little bit wiser, and having learned a few new tricks along the way.
Sure, this ultimately makes album number seven feel a little inconsistent overall – split pretty evenly between a solid first half that doesn’t always live up to the band’s full potential, and a stellar second half that absolutely does (and, on occasion, arguably exceeds it in unexpected ways) – which means it’s unlikely to go down in history as one of Allegaeon‘s best (though, to be fair, that is a pretty high bar) but it also shows that the decision to reunite with Haynes was absolutely the right one to make.
And, hopefully, we’ll get a few more albums from them – even bigger and better ones, if we’re lucky – before they’re forced to find a new frontman again!