When Nathan Gray (also in the like-it-or-leave-it formation Boysetsfire; personally I am part of the ‘leave-it’ trend) formed I Am Heresy in 2011, he wanted to express his passion for complex Extreme Metal. He wrote and recorded a first (self-titled) album shortly after, with assistance of his son Simon, who did the main guitar parts.
The modest success convinced Nathan to continue, so he started writing more material. Eventually, he recruited some other musicians in order to record the sophomore full length, entitled They Will. Simon, of course, is still part of the tribe, evidently. There was an EP in 2013, apparently (which did not cross the Atlantic towards European soil?), but They Will is the second full length, which lasts for three quarters of an hour (normal edition, not the one which includes three bonus songs).
With this album, I Am Heresy goes further where the nameless debut ended. It stands for a modern, catchy yet slightly uncomfortable mixture of Metalcore, D-Beat, Thrash Metal, Groove and Noisecore; there are even hints of Progressive Music from time to time (especially within some specific lead guitar themes). It’s a multi-layered sonic experience, flirting in between the extremes of epic melodicism and archaic extremism, all performed with energetic excitement and a huge joie-de-jeu. Vocally too there is something to mention. The main vocals are scream-shouts, but there are additions of harmony, clean and grunting voices as well. However, the focus leads the listener to the spheres where many Thrash, Hardcore and Metalcore bands dwell.
And then this. The album starts rather promising, I think. Even I can appreciate the opening track Rahabh a lot. But after a while I have had it, and I guess it will go for quite a big amount of readers. …which does not necessarily mean that this stuff sucks. I’m sure there is a certain audience that might be pleased with this stuff. However, I am afraid it sounds way too ‘easy’, ‘poppy’ and ‘commercially polished-up’, and such a clinically produced material hurts my sensitive eardrums unfortunately. What about those (semi) acoustic intermezzos, predictable riffing, pseudo-emotional rhythms or pulp-oriented melo-vox? No further comment…