Core Device What I’ve Become
by Justin Gaines
Staff Writer
What I’ve Become is the second full-length album from New Jersey-based metal band Core Device. Now signed to Heaven and Hell Records, the band, which has been active since the late ‘90s, has a powerful sound that draws influence from bands like Nevermore and Iced Earth while maintaining their own unique style.
Beneath the haunting cover artwork by Travis Smith, What I’ve Become is a very impressive album that incorporates elements of traditional, power, thrash and progressive metal. The guitar riffs are both blisteringly fast and surgically precise, and are paired with rhythms that are almost doom-like in their heaviness. Even with the speed and heaviness on display, there is a measure of both melody and technicality that brings to mind the best Nevermore albums as well as later Sanctuary. Daniel Dunphy’s vocals are a major asset to Core Device’s sound, bringing the kind of vocal power that matches the songs’ crushing rhythms. He has a great death growl as well, which is employed for emphasis on certain songs (like the neck-snapping “I’m Not Sleeping” but never overused.
Highlights include the thrashing, snarling menace of “Confront the Serpent,” the haunting “Remembered as a Name” (which recalls Nevermore’s “Believe In Nothing”) and the the epic title track, but What I’ve Become is a very impressive album from start to finish, and doesn’t really have a weak moment aside from the odd interlude track “Why I Am.”
Fans of the Sanctuary/Nevermore sound in particular will find a lot to love in Core Device’s sound, but What I’ve Become should appeal to anyone looking for high caliber, intelligent and inspired metal. This is one of the stronger releases seen so far in 2011, and with luck What I’ve Become will bring the band the wider attention their music deserves.
Genre: Heavy Metal
Band:
Daniel Dunphy (v) (k)
Tony Nocera (g)
Pat Kehoe (g)
Marty Walsh (b)
Jason Chonko (d)
Track Listing:
1. Premonition
2. Spiritual
3. King of Broken Hopes
4. I’m Not Sleeping
5. Revelations
6. Blackened Heart
7. Confront the Serpent
8. Trail the Vein
9. Sixth Sense
10. Wounded
11. Remembered as a Name
12. Human Holocaust
13. Why I Am
14. What I’ve Become
Label: Heaven and Hell
Website: www.coredevice.com
Hardrock Haven rating: 8.75/10