Arcadia – Roy Philip Nohl (2010)

Hailing from Italy, today we get a very interesting release that manages to blend several genres of metal into a very original sound. Arcadia does a great job in combining Hardcore, Melodic Death Metal, and some hints of Progressive Metal/Rock, allowing the band sounding like none other in the scene.

Before you can even think about it, the answer is: yes, there are some Metalcore-ish elements in “Roy Philip Nohl”. However, these little hints of Metalcore are greatly utilized to the band’s advantage; they use the breakdowns to weave new sounds and elements into their already well crafted songs. We really like how the band uses some breakdowns to create epic chorus sections that never sound faggy (i.e. “I Sold Drugs to Little Red Riding Hood”).

The band’s ability to craft catchy and ‘chuggy’ riffs is top notch and in every song they feature different riffs that allow each song to shine on their own. Our favorite sections are the ones where the band goes ‘Melodic Death Metal’ on us and they craft solid melodic passages with some modest solos, i.e. “Dead by Six o’clock”.

The vocals range from deranged screams to typical hardcore screaming, nothing out of the ordinary in this category, but solid enough to carry this album. The drumming is very diverse and changes its tempo all the time adjusting skillfully to the madness behind the music. For a three-piece band, Arcadia generates a lot of noise (in a good way), and will surely blast you away with their very interesting sounding music.

Most songs in “Roy Philip Nohl” have their own intricacies that make them solid compositions. We think that other than the dull intro and some of the Linkin Park-like chorus sections, “Roy Philip Nohl” is a solid effort from start to end. It is rare that these days we find something fresh sounding and good at the same time. Jump in on this band now, before their sound might get to whacky in the future.

Release: April 2010

Country: Italy