The album wastes no time getting to business. With a fat and dirty riff reminiscent of early Machine Head, guitarists Chris Metker and Jordyn Penner quickly establish the setting in which much of this album will live. As drummer Joe Myers, bassist Abraham Martinez, and vocalist Brian Terry join the fray, one thing becomes immediately clear: the production of this album is beautiful. The drums sound humongous and articulate while remaining organic, The guitars are perfectly saturated with that classic Mesa-Boogie Dual Rectifier approach, the bass, though rarely showcased, creates a massive and even roundness that fills the room, and the vocals sit near perfectly in the middle of it all. The band was sure to pay meticulous attention to each sound that went into this record, and it absolutely shows.
Though the sound quality is stunning, listening to this album as a whole definitely brings on a prominent feeling of early 2000's Metal déjà vu. Whether it's a deliberate homage to that era or not, the song writing often fails to bring anything new to the table where their idols sit. Much of Strike The Shepherd feels like a riff-Frankenstein's Monster made of Trivium, Resolution-era Lamb of God, Shadows Fall, and even Breaking Benjamin. There are definitely moments where the band implements some interesting atmospheric ideas, however. The violin/string arrangements lightly layered under clips of various news broadcasts in the intro of "Pigs" is a prime example. Though the news clip idea might to fall under that déjà vu category by itself, the strings are layered into the mix with such tact and subtlety that it ends up making for a very cool, theatric moment. The terribly ominous, curiously powerful intro riff to "UnRaveling" is another great example of their ventures into atmosphere. It's such a different feeling from the rest of the album that it entirely changes the color of the room when it hits.
Use of Guitar harmonies that often weave their way in and out of more aggressive, pummeling grooves make for a very nice sense of motion. Additionally, the variety and range of vocal techniques by Brian Terry implemented on nearly every song very efficiently takes you from the depths of one musical setting, and immediately plunges you into the belly of another. 3 Minutes To Live definitely know how to control the flow of energy, taking each song from its origin to its destination with confidence. Oh, and speaking of confidence, the band absolutely oozes with it each time they lay into a meaty groove. They're not mind boggling, Tosin Abasi-born chugs, but rather a straight ahead, crushing wallop, like being run over by a hijacked tank. The ruthless, rolling double kick of Joe Myers is undoubtedly the gas pedal that makes that tank roll.
Overall, this album lays down loads of mean muggin' Metal chuggin. There isn't a single moment where the musicians don't feel completely in control of the whole show, and again, WOW this production quality is fantastic. Radio ready is an understatement. That being said, the fact that these musicians feel so obviously talented and capable is part of what makes this album a little underwhelming as a whole. They begin their title track with a very cool riff in 7/4 time (for the non-musicians reading this: that's something one would expect out of Rush/Neil Peart), and though that's a killer moment, they never dabble with that type of idea again. Everything just feels very safe, and that's a shame because the band proved in small doses that they're more than capable of creating some interesting and compelling work. If they would commit to that a little further, they may have had more success at stepping out of the shadows of their influences. Due to this fact, Strike the Shepherd struggles to keep the listener's full attention for a start to finish listen despite, its absolutely professional approach.
7/10
-Ryan Burke
Professional musician with over 10 years of writing,
recording, and touring experience with his band Epicenter,
and various other artists and projects.
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