the_Network - Bishop Kent Manning

No LAN support in this network

It's intriguing to listen to bands that I never heard before especially with cool sounding names (except for badly vaguely named metalcore bands). The_Network has a cool sounding and looking name albeit they are a metalcore band. Good thing that they sound pretty good for following a Botch/Converge attack with a essence of individuality. Already established in Blackmarket Activities with 2007's This Is Your Pig's Portrait and the split EP with UK band Throats, the_Network comes back with a Kurt Ballou production of a conce... excuse me a narrative journey.

Starring a man on a destructive path from his manipulative lead of an evangelical church to his goal for self realization and redemption, t_N provides an facsinating lyrical story where it flows through with anger and rage from vocalist Mike McGee. He does what he has to do while knows he cannot flood the rest of the sounds surrounding the album. Following the aformentioned influences, t_N takes some left turns with influences of post-hardcore and post-metal; most notably evident on "Corpse Paint" where it contains an Isis like buildup and goes to a almost poppy melodic like chorus to immediate doomy verses. Most of the time, it's constant math influenced chaos. To differentiate from their older peers, very metal riffing is added to the hardcore sensibilities in songs like "Easter Just Stopped Showing" where it almost sounds like a death metal song with the notion of how deathcore should sound like instead of what Suicide Silence deafens.

They do what they want to do and it seems to be working. Is it sophomore album of the year? Hell no! It doesn't break any modern mold in the musically department yet it's awesome though to listen to something imaginative lyrically such as Bishop Kent Manning. In the name of Jesus and Satan, do listen!

8/10