A Plea For Purging - The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell (REVIEW)

Click Read More to read my review of A Plea For Purging's The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell.

I'll be the first to admit I've always been a little critical of this band. With that being said I actually really enjoy this album and it's probably one of the better albums I've heard from the metal genre in a while.


Review:


The album lyrically is very interesting. A Plea For Purging is Christian Metalcore and if you read over the lyrics there are many references to religion and an interesting take on those references.

The guitar work shines through on this album and the tiny little things that the band have used help to create an interesting atmosphere for the album in many ways. The guitar work on the album is interesting enough to make it different than many metal releases you may have heard over the past year or so. An example of some of the neat guitar work can be found on “Golden Barriers.”

Vocally the screams found on the album are about as top notch as metal can get. It might get a little hard to make out the lyrics if you aren’t reading them at the same time (I suggest you take a listen and do a read along with albums of this nature). The album does have some clean vocals incorporated through some songs, which may have many metal fans heading for the doors, but the amount used doesn’t affect the impact of most of the songs.

Although at times it can feel out of place, one of those instances is the slow moving ballad “The Jealous Wings” which features the aforementioned clean vocals. It feels a bit out of place because it is a drastic change from the other songs found on the album. I won’t necessarily say it’s bad because it does add to the mood of the album, but most metal heads may view it as a chance for radio play or hopes from the band to branch out of their core audience. Or quite possibly after three albums the band felt like experimenting with new sounds.

The album is mixed really nicely for a metal album. Sometimes that can make the biggest difference in how I view an album of this nature. For a metal album it isn’t too glaring, while maintaining its loudness…if that makes any sense. The vocals stand out when they should, but the band aren’t afraid to let some of the more interesting drum parts and guitar parts act as leads and the vocals more of a backdrop at times. You can hear evidence of this in tracks like “Sick Silent America” about fifty or so seconds into the song and in various other tracks on the album.

Overall, I’d say this is a good release from a genre that has been bled dry with copycats and dull ideas. Not the most original album you’ll hear this year, but a fine addition to your metal library if you like this kind of thing. It should fit well between Norma Jean’s O God The Aftermath and The Chariot’s Wars And Rumors Of Wars.

Standout Tracks:

“Golden Barriers”
“Sick Silent America”