Betrayal

Item: Leaving Nevermore
Author: SORG

Leaving Nevermore

(1999)

Reviewed by SORG

Discogs YouTube

Label Black & White RecordsDead Zine1999

alternative rock electronic gothic rock industrial

After 6 years of silence Betrayal is back with a new release. Only this could be considered more of a solo project from band frontman Marcus N. Colon, although some parts are played by Matt Maners. For the most part Marcus handles all vocals, guitars, bass, and drum programming. That's right programming! Marcus has moved forward and although some critics may blast him for "selling out", I think that the new sound is very mature and has progressed to a new level for Betrayal. The sound is very "industrial/techno/ambient" while still maintaining the guitars as the "driving force" behind the music. The guitars are still very technical (and quite heavy at times) and are not hidden behind the keyboards (which there are plenty of). The overall atmosphere is very surreal and ambient with the obvious metal roots still intact, but with a new twist of modern rock accessibility thrown in (think Garbage, Depeche Mode, etc..). The keyboards are eclectic and haunting giving most of the tracks a floaty goth kinda feeling that should appeal to fans of Midnight Orchestra (only Betrayal is far more talented). There are obvious influences from bands such as Nine Inch Nails, Under Midnight, and Circle Of Dust, but rather than using the "crushing power chord" style guitar work of those bands Marcus uses the guitar to weave a technical tapestry of sound. I am impressed (as always with Betrayal) with the guitar work on this disc (especially after being let down by bands like Fountain of Tears who shoved the guitars almost completely out of the picture. sorry, had to comment on that.) The guitars are very upfront and you can hear what's going on with every instrument. The biggest change aside from the "trip-hop" beats are the vocals. The new vocal style is a clean vocal with a minimum use of effects. The vocals are kind of light and airy also adding to the spooky goth feel. This disc reminds me a lot of Kohllapse and the direction they are taking. The sound is very similar to Kohllapse only the vocals are not as powerful, overall it's not as "heavy", and there isn't that huge wall of production that Kohllapse managed to achieve on their latest CD. The production on here is however very crisp, clean and nicely done. The only downfall I find is that by disc's end you might become a bit bored as some tracks tend to get very mellow and the beats seem to get a little repetitive (I personally liked all of it though). It is, in a way, bewitching and mysterious because just when it starts to seem too light or monotonous all of a sudden the music, or even the lyrics, become very dark and ominous. The lyrics are GREAT!!! This is the kind of stuff I love lyrically, they are very poetic, introspective and dark, yet are CLEARLY filled with the gospel message! I for one am proud to say that I like the new disc and look forward to hearing more from "The New Era Of Betrayal". My rating on this is based on PERSONAL taste (and of course what I consider to be the musical integrity of this project), so please be sure to read this entire review carefully and maybe try to hear some sound clips before purchasing. For you guys that are strictly into death, black and hardcore you won't agree with my assessment of Betrayal.

10/10