The Iron Son is a new project from ex Bleeding Through, Throwdown and Eighteen Visions vocalist Brandan Schieppati. Debut album ‘Enemy’ was released through his own label ‘Pvre Evil’ on December 1st.
I picked up this review based on the strength of Schieppati’s previous bands; ‘Beyond Repair’ (Throwdown) was an awesome album, Eighteen Visions were influential and Breaking Through, were hugely popular. He’s a hard working, skilled vocalist and The Iron Son provides him a vehicle to showcase his vision and personality. If you are already a fan of Brandan’s, or a fan of Bleeding Through, then you will like this record. Go and get it and be happy.
Enemy is a bleak affair, with songs like ‘Worth Less’, ‘Unleash Hell’, ‘This World Is Decay’, but while the music is heavy, it falls predominantly to synths and strings to provide the drama which the song titles suggest. There’s all kinds of blast beats, trem picking, breakdowns, sub drops, atmospheric hanging riffs and the impressive vocal range you would expect from Schieppati, resulting in a metalcore album with some black metal influence, very similar to Bleeding Through.
Performance and production is polished to a fault, giving Enemy a sterile, calculated feeling rather than being moving in any way. It feels like an experienced professional has made a very intentional album catered to his audience, which is fair enough really, and even from a neutral perspective I can see how current fans would eat this up, as there’s essentially nothing wrong with it. As an outsider however, even as an admirer of his older work, Enemy feels heartless, lacking the kind of raw energy essential to any album, but especially in this genre.
After nearly 30 minutes of fast, precise metalcore, I’m left not really feeling anything. All the ingredients are there for an aggressive record, but The Iron Son manages to sound impressively brutal without actually portraying any kind of genuine anger. Songs blend into riffs and an annoying faux string whine over everything, and ultimately I think while Enemy is technically strong, there’s nothing to encourage repeat listens.
(6/10 Kane Power)
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