After weeks of teasing fans and building hype, metal provocateurs BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE have finally unleashed their buzz-inducing fifth album, I AM – available in stores and online today from Solid State Records.
The early response to the album has heaped praise upon I AM and BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE’s constant reinvention and refusal to be boxed into an easily defined sound. Hails & Horns called the album “[a] thoughtfully crafted masterpiece,” adding, “In a time where standing out in the metal crowd is very difficult due to the abundance of bands and a plethora of styles, BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE has done it again.”
“I AM is a living, breathing piece of ourselves that has been angrily rattling its cage, demanding that it be released,” says guitarist Seth Hecox. “We are pleased to see our little monster grow up and turn into a raging beast that will roar and thrash inside other humans. It’ll leave you in shreds, but I’m afraid there’s nothing to be done about it. You must simply allow the process to happen and embrace the aggressive, ravenous thing inside yourself. Do enjoy!”
After building a career on dazzlingly artistic metal offerings and fresh off their most inventive album yet in 2011’s Celestial Completion, BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE have thrown the world a curveball by way of I AM’s seemingly straightforward riffage. As Hecox explains, the point of this album wasn’t to transcend the artform of metal music, it was to master it. “I AM is 100% head banging riffs,” he says. “Gone are the sitars and horns of Celestial Completion. Instead, we’ve crafted an album full of the heaviest and most technical songs we’ve ever written.”
Recorded with producer Shane Frisby (BURY YOUR DEAD, THE GHOST INSIDE), I AM, as the title suggests, is also a statement of an album that puts a new stamp on who BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE is and what it stands for. It’s an album that, unlike their past efforts, is less about reinventing heavy music than it is reinventing BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE. Which isn’t to say listeners won’t find the band doing its usual mind-warping and genre-bending, but as Hecox explains, the point of this album wasn’t to transcend the artform of metal music, it was to master it and in the process reinvigorate the band’s wide fan base and tap into a huge cross-section of metal fans who previously might have balked at BTA’s unbridled, manic creativity.
Early praise for I AM:
“In a time where standing out in the metal crowd is very difficult due to the abundance of bands and a plethora of styles, BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE has done it again… [a] thoughtfully crafted masterpiece.” -HAILS & HORNS
“Skull-crushing riffs, technical guitar solos, innovative lyrics, and well-warranted breakdowns… This entertaining album will doubtlessly attract a hoard of new fans, but it should also suit the old fans when they get an earful of the heavy complexity that pulses through I Am. (4/5)” -INDIE VISION MUSIC
“I Am is Becoming The Archetype doing what they do best: making killer death metal/metalcore that doesn’t sound generic, but still sounds familiar, and that’s not an easy thing to do. (4/5)” -THE NEW REVIEW
“[I Am] pulls influences from all of the band’s previous works and makes something totally destructive… This is [Becoming The Archetype] reaching their full potential. (9/10)” -MIND EQUALS BLOWN
“If you want a good time with solid riffing and non-stop metalcore, then I Am will definitely satisfy your needs… a lot of fun” -HEAVY BLOG IS HEAVY