PIKES EDGE – All of Our Beauty

The German outfit Pikes Edge hovers somewhere between modern melodic metal, groove metal, and metal-core, which is to say that the quintet’s music consists of aggressive riffing, lots of breakdowns, concise guitar leads, and pissed-off-yet-varied vocals. Listening to "All of Our Beauty" brings to mind bands such as Devildriver, Arch Enemy, At the Gates, and In Flames. Truth be told, Pikes Edge does not really cut it for me. There is no faulting the competent musicianship or the suitable production, but the songs themselves fail to grab my attention or peak my interest. I am sitting there feeling that I have heard all of this stuff a gazillion times before, and "All of Our Beauty" seems devoid of identity and substance to me. Granted, there is variation to be found within some of the tunes, but in the overall perspective there is very little emotion and passion on display here. Like I said, these guys can definitely handle their instruments properly, but the compositions and arrangements lack imagination and the majority of songs are quickly forgotten. If 90s groove metal or melodic Gothenburg-inspired music get you wet then "All of Our Beauty" might appeal to you, but this one will not find its way back to my record player. It bores me and there are way better albums out there belonging to the same genres and categories that are more convincing than this one.

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