Metalheads beware. This CD is not the Betrayal of old who belted out thrash metal from the depths of their metal loving souls, and annihilated you with speed, and technicality.
At the same time the intensity level of Leaving Nevermore is right on par with their past releases. This time the band is made up mainly of Marcus Colon who, as the insert states is credited with; vocals, electric & acoustic guitars, solos, bass guitar, keyboards, drum programming, and various noises. One additional musician makes appearances but as you can see Leaving Nevermore is pretty much Marcus's baby.
The music is described by their website as "An incorporation of two decades of modern music, yet retaining integrity to a cutting original sound." Now as eclectic as that may sound I have no choice but to agree. See the music has left its thrash roots FAR behind and moved into an electronic style. Never-the-less, Marcus is not afraid to play guitar and on most tracks the guitar pieces are freaking good. It's just they are no longer the fronting instrument, now they are moved into the background while I seem to be focusing more on the keyboards.
The vocals remind me so much of Depeche Mode, without being quite so "throaty" if you know what I mean. They are usually soft yet extremely serious and dark.
Lyrically Betrayal has moved on a bit as well. What I mean is I'm used to listening to Betrayal and getting pure and simple scripture. I did e-mail Marcus about this direction change, to which he agreed there is a distinct lack of evangelical songs on this album. His explanation of the things presented were well received by myself and indeed helped me make even more sense of many of the songs. I hope he doesn't mind, but I feel the only way to relate this to you is to quote a portion of his e-mail to me. This is a direct quote straight from Marcus with no editing:
"You should know I've never been ashamed to say it like it is on "B" albums, but this cd comes from a different place! When the whole Christian scene (metal) took a dive and bands and members fell apart (I mean spiritually) and believe me there were countless cases, I saw things in people and myself that was horrifying. When God gave "B" back to me it was like I was in auto pilot like never before. The message is primarily to bros that have called it quits and to a body who needs to come together and remember their call!!! I know it came out the way God wanted."
He further added that "Nonetheless, the issue of returning to evangelistic lyrical approach is already underway." and told me to wait until I get my hands on the follow up to Leaving Nevermore.
So the lyrics thing got cleared up pretty good for me, and even though this album is not evangelical on its own, in the hands of a Christian, this CD can certainly be used for God's will.
Overall this is a great gothic/industrial/electronic album that has songs that haunt your soul. I would love to have seen the guitars take a more prominent role and have the music come from more of a Klank/Circle of Dust style of music but hey that's just me! Check out a couple of samples from the CD at www.betrayalmusic.com they are in RealAudio format.
9/10
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #82Reviewed by Doug Van PeltMarcus Colon has not been sitting idly by. He's been listening and taking notice. It's funny that he's chosen a somewhat gothic direction, since Betrayal was somewhat associated with Sanctuary in the 80's, and Sanctuary made a definitive decision to go after the Marilyn Manson crowd (I know, I know, Manson's not real goth!). Anyway, Marcus has almost single-handedly put together this album of…Art for the Ears 2000Reviewed by Marco PovervestAs most of you (perhaps) haven't heard of Betrayal before, I give you a short history about the band first. It all started late eighties when Marcus Colon, Brian Meuse and Jeff Lain joined thrash-metal band Martyr. However, band-leader Dave Prado decided to move to another part of the USA and so he took the bandname with him. The three who remained behind were joined by vocalist Chris Ackerman…Dead Zine 1999Reviewed by GrindboyThere was a day when Betrayal symbolized (to me, anyway) all that was great about metal. Boldly stepping outside the lines of what the world had heard before, Marcus and co. produced a shocking and unpredictable album that left me asking A) "What was that?" and B) "Where can I get some more?" This album has me asking only one of those questions. I guess this is a shot at goth/industrial/metal,…Dead Zine 1999Reviewed by SORGAfter 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…Similar sounding releases
2001AnymoreUmani
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2003Ashton NyteSinister SwingMore from Betrayal
2001The Passing Of Time
1993The Passing
2002In Remembrance Of Me
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1991Renaissance by Death
