The Tale Untold enters the big leagues.
After two EPs in 2019 and 2023, the band comprising Eliss Hall (vocals), Jon Frost (guitar), Jack Larson (guitar/vocals), Ashlee Boyce (drums) and Cole Buckley (bass) unveils their debut album, Counterculture.
After a relatively modern intro reminiscent of a trailer, the band attack with Show Me, where the melancholic piano is quickly replaced by a jerky rhythm and Eliss‘s howling. Jack‘s clean vocals appear on the choruses, and the duet takes shape at a gentler pace, but violence returns regularly before giving way to the explosive Burn It Down and its Electro touches in the background. The massive growl fits perfectly with the fast-paced riffs that make the track catchy, then the sound suddenly calms down with Dream offering a brief touch of unexpected sweetness coupled with the clear vocals, then the saturation resumes, finally offering guitarist Jordan Rush a final solo. We continue with Paper, whose intriguing introduction transforms into waves of aggression then soaring that alternate without warning, then The Craving introduces modern, motivating Alternative Metal elements thanks to samples. The composition remains fairly simple and accessible until the heavier, more aggressive final, which throws us onto Make Believe and its crushing Djent roots, which take on their full meaning on the chaotic break where keyboards add a more intoxicating touch. The ominous sounds return on the first half of Devil’s Doom, complemented by an effective rhythm section cut in half on the second half, before the band once again exploit their Industrial influences with God Complex, which grows darker by the second before unleashing its riffs and screams. After a very quick cybernetic interlude called All Time High, the band offers a reinterpretation of its track Coffee, released on its first EP, which benefits from the band’s current sonic heaviness, while retaining the metalcore riffing and cosmic solo to close the album.
The Tale Untold modernizes and confirms its aggressive style with Counterculture. The album is fairly well-paced, offering effective riffs somewhere between Djent, Industrial and Metalcore, but I think it will be even more effective live.
80/100
