Welcome Orient Fall from Budapest, Hungary. They play more of that djenty, progressive metalcore the kids love these days. And in this case, I love it too. From the very first few notes of Fractals, I was checking off all of the necessary boxes: Technical musicianship? Check, Solid production? Check. Djent foundation is backed by more than just binary bullshit? Check. Soaring melodies...you get the idea.
One could roughly summarize Orient Fall's sound as a combination of what make Born of Osiris and Within the Ruins just so darn likeable. In fact, the opening of "Alpha Centauri Bb" reminded me quite directly of the latter's 2014 "Eternal Shore." It's an all-around excellent track and a nice starting point to get a sense of what these guys have to offer. That opening scream is just plain arousing, and then the wild guitar noodling just toys with my heart at that point. Add in some catchy and tastefully-done clean singing along with the bass crunch and a very "Sumeriancore" interlude and this one is sure to be stuck in your head.
I've become a bit of a runner recently, and I normally only play music that I have known long enough to sing along in my head and really get the blood pumping. Fractals, on the other hand, I took with me on a 3 mile trudge through the rain on just the second listen. Everything about this album is just instantly adrenaline-inducing. The choruses, breakdowns, and awe-inspiring symphonics are all placed perfectly as if to scream "victory!" I can't imagine listening to this and not feeling the urge to get active.
But one not need to be athletic to enjoy Orient Fall. All that is needed is an openess to the full gamut of what both the heavy and melodic ends of the spectrum have to offer. All of these well-trodden ideas are perfectly executed and packaged for appeal from both the mainstream and hopefully the skeptical as well. In particular, I recommend this to fans of Azgard, Periphery, Born of Osiris, and Within the Ruins; but I hope others will give this stream a chance as well.