French melodeath quintet Think of a New Kind (TANK) have been working hard at building their stock for the past few years. Touring across Europe with the likes of Dagoba and Sinsaenum has helped them build a reputation as a powerful and progressive outfit, with third album Symbiosis attracting the attention of luminaries such as Björn Strid (of Soilwork fame) to appear on the album. 5 years and a long search for a new record label later, the group are back, striking a deal with French label Verycords to release their latest effort Ideals Will Remain.
Now, five years is a long time in the music world and as such a lot of ideas will have built up for the guys in TANK, which can be both a good thing and a bad thing. While it may allow them to refine and perfect the songs, it can also lead to an overabundance of ideas and make a record bloated and unsure of what it wants to be. The latter doesn’t really seem to be a problem for TANK on Ideals Will Remain, though, with most tracks coming in at a healthy 4 or 5 minutes in length (aside from intro “Anima”, interlude “Eve” and 7 minute closer “The Essence”). First proper track “Last Days of Deception” has the band firing both barrels in a modern melodeath assault, doing little to stray from the tried and tested sound but doing exactly what you want from an album opener nonetheless. “The Pledge”, however, does change things up a little bit, bringing in some metalcore influences with some gang chants reminiscent of While She Sleeps-meets-Soilwork. It’s an odd mix, but it works. The more groove metal leaning sound of “The Phantom” is another highlight, showing off Raf Pener’s clean singing with some excellent 90s-esque riffs taking their cues from the likes of Pantera and Lamb of God.
The traditional guest spot for Ideals Will Remain goes to “Survivance”, featuring Daniël de Jongh of tech-metallers Textures, and some of their sound does rub off on TANK here, with jagged, mathy riffs bouncing off of the more grandiose riffage that they’re better known for. It’s kind of the marker for when the album gets a bit more progressive, with the remaining tracks gradually building up the momentum into closer “The Essence”, a track which truly shows what TANK are capable of. The track transitions from dynamic to dynamic, bursting into life from a cool, collected intro into full death metal swing, and then proggy refrains, and a riff that harks back to intro track “Anima”. Guitarists Thomas Moreau and Nils Coubaron even pull out their finest solos yet, the culmination of 5 years of ideas all coalescing at once. It really feels like an album’s worth of shifts and changes all smashed into one track, which is impressive but also leaves a somewhat sour taste in the mouth...
The sourness that is left behind after this, is that the main problem that sticks out from Ideals Will Remain is that TANK do seem to be playing it a bit too safe, sticking to the known formula with little deviation aside from the odd outside influence. The time signature changes of “Shadow Hill” definitely work well to snap it out of its rut and make things interesting, but there’s not really much to make them stand out in the modern melodic death metal crowd. You’d think that having so much time to work on ideas, and the presence of new guitarist Thomas Moreau, would mean that they’d be more willing to push their boundaries on this effort, but at the same time, when you’re trying to find a new record deal, you may be driven to push out something with a broader appeal before trying anything really adventurous, and that may be what Ideals Will Remain is for TANK. The groundwork is there for something truly fascinating and boundary-breaking, as seen on “The Essence”, but without the backing to make that happen, they may have no choice but to take the safer option for the time being.
Nevertheless, there is more than enough on Ideals Will Remain to keep most melodeath fans entertained, even if it doesn’t push itself as far as it certainly could. Think of a New Kind are a talented bunch, and they have the ability to make something truly special. While we wait, we still have a very enjoyable album here to keep us wanting more. The pressure is now on them to deliver on what Ideals Will Remain promises, particularly with the fashion in which it ended.
Think of a New Kind’s new album Ideals Will Remain is out now via Verycords. Follow the band on Facebook.
Now, five years is a long time in the music world and as such a lot of ideas will have built up for the guys in TANK, which can be both a good thing and a bad thing. While it may allow them to refine and perfect the songs, it can also lead to an overabundance of ideas and make a record bloated and unsure of what it wants to be. The latter doesn’t really seem to be a problem for TANK on Ideals Will Remain, though, with most tracks coming in at a healthy 4 or 5 minutes in length (aside from intro “Anima”, interlude “Eve” and 7 minute closer “The Essence”). First proper track “Last Days of Deception” has the band firing both barrels in a modern melodeath assault, doing little to stray from the tried and tested sound but doing exactly what you want from an album opener nonetheless. “The Pledge”, however, does change things up a little bit, bringing in some metalcore influences with some gang chants reminiscent of While She Sleeps-meets-Soilwork. It’s an odd mix, but it works. The more groove metal leaning sound of “The Phantom” is another highlight, showing off Raf Pener’s clean singing with some excellent 90s-esque riffs taking their cues from the likes of Pantera and Lamb of God.
The traditional guest spot for Ideals Will Remain goes to “Survivance”, featuring Daniël de Jongh of tech-metallers Textures, and some of their sound does rub off on TANK here, with jagged, mathy riffs bouncing off of the more grandiose riffage that they’re better known for. It’s kind of the marker for when the album gets a bit more progressive, with the remaining tracks gradually building up the momentum into closer “The Essence”, a track which truly shows what TANK are capable of. The track transitions from dynamic to dynamic, bursting into life from a cool, collected intro into full death metal swing, and then proggy refrains, and a riff that harks back to intro track “Anima”. Guitarists Thomas Moreau and Nils Coubaron even pull out their finest solos yet, the culmination of 5 years of ideas all coalescing at once. It really feels like an album’s worth of shifts and changes all smashed into one track, which is impressive but also leaves a somewhat sour taste in the mouth...
The sourness that is left behind after this, is that the main problem that sticks out from Ideals Will Remain is that TANK do seem to be playing it a bit too safe, sticking to the known formula with little deviation aside from the odd outside influence. The time signature changes of “Shadow Hill” definitely work well to snap it out of its rut and make things interesting, but there’s not really much to make them stand out in the modern melodic death metal crowd. You’d think that having so much time to work on ideas, and the presence of new guitarist Thomas Moreau, would mean that they’d be more willing to push their boundaries on this effort, but at the same time, when you’re trying to find a new record deal, you may be driven to push out something with a broader appeal before trying anything really adventurous, and that may be what Ideals Will Remain is for TANK. The groundwork is there for something truly fascinating and boundary-breaking, as seen on “The Essence”, but without the backing to make that happen, they may have no choice but to take the safer option for the time being.
Nevertheless, there is more than enough on Ideals Will Remain to keep most melodeath fans entertained, even if it doesn’t push itself as far as it certainly could. Think of a New Kind are a talented bunch, and they have the ability to make something truly special. While we wait, we still have a very enjoyable album here to keep us wanting more. The pressure is now on them to deliver on what Ideals Will Remain promises, particularly with the fashion in which it ended.
Think of a New Kind’s new album Ideals Will Remain is out now via Verycords. Follow the band on Facebook.
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