Rise to Remain - City of Vultures - Album Review
This is an album that further establishes Rise To Remain as one of, if not the, most exciting prospects in UK metal - a diamond amongst the muddy waters of the chaotic, jammed metal scene in this country.
Rise To Remain are a band taking the underground metal scene in the UK by storm. The band is made up by: Austin Dickinson (vocalist and son of Iron Maiden vocalist, Bruce Dickinson), Joe Copcutt (bass), Pat Lundy (drums), Ben Tovey (guitar) and Will Homer (guitar). First formed in late 2006, playing under the name Halide, the band first gained recognition, although on a small scale, after the release of a three track EP (which was a viral release through their Myspace page). At first, this release didnt get much attention, but through word-of-mouth and, undoubtedly, shameless self-promotion this led them to play gigs as support for more established metal bands such as Eternal Lord, Viatrophy, Exit Ten and Sylosis. It was at the Sylosis gig that they had their first big-break, as they were offered to play at Download festival on the smaller stage normally reserved for up-and-coming, exciting bands. Of course, they snapped up this offer and after changing their bassist and drummer, they changed their name from Halide to what we now know them as: Rise To Remain. Their performance at Download was enough for them to secure a booking agent, in the form of Paul Ryan, and in the summer of 2008 they recorded the first Rise To Remain EP, which was called 'Becoming One'. After this, things started to explode for the band and went on play with bands such as: The Red Shore, Shadows Fall, Five Finger Death Punch and Trivium and went on to appear at Download Festival, again, and Sonisphere Festival. It was during these gigs that the band really started to attract a much bigger fan-base due to their awesome live shows, which are full of intensity, passion and crushing riffs. It also helps, of course, that the band are still really young to be producing such well-structured metal and many people became fans because of the talent thats so obvious in these five young men. Even if they werent fussed on the music, they had to give the band respect for what they were doing. In June 2010, the band were given the revered Metal Hammer Golden God Award for Best New Band and they also won the Best British Newcomer at the Kerrang! Awards. After these awards, they went on to support the hugely popular Korn and Funeral For A Friend and supported Iron Maiden in Singapore and Indonesia in February 2011. I suppose it helps when your vocalists dad is Bruce Dickinson, but the band do deserve all the credit they have been given because they are a shining light in the UK metal scene. 
Their first album, 'City Of Vultures', was recorded with producer, Colin Richardson, who has worked with Carcass and Machine Head, amongst others. Having such a well-known and experienced producer will help with the albums sound, but Rise To Remain could have recorded with anyone and the album would still have been well-received. Theyre a band who sound just as good on recordings as they do live, as City Of Vultures shows, when compared to their recent appearance at Sonisphere. The album is 12 tracks full of unforgiving, pure intensified metal and there isnt a moment here where the band let themselves, or the fans, down. So, itll be too much to mention every highlight of the album the tracks that are going to be favourites and the tracks where the band are at their strongest are: The Serpent: 3.36 minutes of creative guitar-work, where the riffs range from the melodious, harsh tones of metalcore to the downright visceral intensity of breakdowns that verge on death metal. Dickinson shows his pedigree as a metal vocalist here, as he sings harmoniously for the chorus but then effortlessly changes into the growls and screams that are the backbone of the bands ferocity. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNoodAZtcLg&ob=av2e Nothing Left has riffs that the most seasoned of metal bands would drool over and drummer, Pat Lundy, really shows his class here. His ability to keep timing in such a fast-paced song that changes its pace from slow to fast very quickly is tremendous. The blast-beats and double-bass also show that he is a top-notch drummer and its no surprise that a video has been made for this track. Sure to be a track that will be a hit in a live atmosphere. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYmArUEpync&ob=av2e Roads is the most laid-back track on offer and its good to hear the bands sensitive side compared to the anger and deep-rooted ferocity in the other tracks. The guitar solo in this track is really impressive and the band pull this sound off so well that it sits effortlessly amongst the others and doesnt feel as if theyre trying too hard to prove theyre not all about creating contemporary metal. It shows they can balance their sound well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy1Hu611G8I This is an album that further establishes Rise To Remain as one of, if not the, most exciting prospects in UK metal. It plays as if theyre on their third studio album and the future bodes well for them on the basis of this release. They are a diamond amongst the muddy waters of the chaotic, jammed metal scene in the UK at the moment.