After Earth brings its debut album to fruition.
Formed in 2017 in Sweden, the band released their first independent EP in 2020. Composed and recorded by Marcus Rydstedt (vocals, Ancile, ex-Transfallen), Anton Vehkaperä (drums/guitar) and Olof Öman (bass/guitar), The Rarity of Reason was released in 2023.
The band has since recruited Marcelo Vargas Jofré (guitar, Ancile) as well as several live guitarists.
The band kicks off their assault with The Rarity of Reason, a composition with a relatively modern approach that goes down in flames as it adopts more aggressive elements. Powerful vocal parts seamlessly graft themselves onto the jerky roots, as on Prometheus, which places a few more dissonant leads into its motivating rhythm, as well as a clean break to temporize the violence before gradually bringing it back. The final is more impressive, before Through Hidden Space unveils an orchestral introduction before letting its riffs explode, leaving plenty of room for harmonics and a haunting solo towards the end of the track. The band returns to heaviness on Legions, a composition on which the guitars pour out cutting leads while the rhythmic basis ensures a catchy sound with massive Deathcore influences. The same heavy atmosphere is found on the devastating Human Slave Machine, which hits hard from the outset, pausing only to resume more violently before giving way to Undermine My Suffocation, whose melodious introduction is overpowered by jerky riffs, but which still allow the guitars to express themselves, offering a few more playful sounds before an energetic moshpart. Anguish to Dust follows with a slower but relatively heavy rhythm, then I Am What Remains presents itself with an ominous but calm introduction, before finally exploding and revealing all its raw power with impressive continuous riffs featuring ferocious strikes, savage howls and menacing keyboards.
After Earth have taken the time to refine their Melodic Death music by including modern tones in The Rarity of Reason, sometimes borrowed from other styles, but which perfectly combine with their aggressive approach.
85/100