The future of metal is here! To say that is a bold claim would be a fairly large understatement. But it is a claim being laid on the head of newcomers Mutiny Within. It's a two fold claim, in the sense that Mutiny Within themselves could become huge time players in the metal genre or in fact the bands sound is veering towards the sound that we have come to expect from modern metal. Two interesting points that will be addressed in this review.

If you have never heard of Mutiny Within then allow me to give you some background info on the band. They are a six piece band from New Jersey, except for frontman Chris Clancy who originally hails from The UK, but relocated for the band. They have toured with the likes of Arch Enemy and Exodus and are currently touring with Dark Tranquillity and Threat Signal. Add in the fact that they have provided the WWE with the entrance theme ‘Born to Win’ for wrestling star Evan Bourne (which seems ironic since the dude keeps losing matches), they also come endorsed by Mike Portnoy and James Petrucci of prog legends Dream Theater and are also signed to Roadrunner Records. All in all I'd say the band was off to a good start!

Mutiny Within's self titled debut album recently turned up and I couldn't wait to hear it based on lead single and opening track 'Awake' which has been gaining traction on rock TV. It's a solid indication of what's to come, atmospheric keys over dueling guitars and a combination of screamed and sung melodic vocals greet the listener. As far as openers go its very solid and sets a high bar.

One of the first things about the album that becomes apparent is that this is a musicians album, particularly for the guitar players out there, this album completely shreds. Guitar players Daniel Bage and Brandon Jacobs are clearly talented guys and it shows on this album,as they weave breakneck riffs with furious face melting solos over the top of Bill Fore’s stampeding drum work. Once you mix the Keyboards of Drew Stavola and the the versatile Vocals of Chris Clancy in the equation it’s a pretty potent mix. From top to bottom this is an album crammed full of anthems like the aforementioned single ‘Awake’, ‘Forsaken’, ‘Undone’ and ‘Suffocate’. Those to me are the four tracks that really stand out, largely due to their more melodic and anthemic choruses, these I imagine to be the songs that will encite mass sing along at gigs and festivals this year.

"Mutiny Within" is a great album, but its not without its flaws, there are times when some of Chris Clancy’s melodic vocals fall flat in comparison to other times when they soar and I'm not sure if that’s down to production or just the tone he was attempting on that particular song. Also the production for me seemed a bit too polished in places as well which seemed to take away some of the rougher edges from the songs. But, once again that’s no reflection on the band, but merely an observation that I've found with a lot of metal albums in recent years, where they seem to have been produced within an inch of their lives.


Now back to the two questions posed at the beginning of the review. Are Mutiny Within the future of metal or is their particular sound the direction in which metal is heading? Let me answer the sound question first. The particular sound of Mutiny Within is a take on what is already accepted as today's modern metal sound and is merely an evolution in that process. Screamed vocals, sung Vocals, dueling guitars, rinse repeat as a formula has been around a fair few years and has seen many bands become famous so yes I would agree that Mutiny Within is the sound of present day, modern metal and indeed where we are heading with the future of it. Do I think Mutiny Within are the face of the future of metal? Well I’d say its too early to tell, they have had a great start and are rapidly gaining ground but I think that question is unanswerable until we get a second and possibly third album out of the band and we see where they end up then. However I see no reason why they cant be the biggest band in the world, they certainly have all the right tools at their dispoal it just depends where they go from here.

Overall this is a confident, assured, début album from a band being hailed the next big thing and rightfully so. Mutiny Within know how to pen great metal songs, they also have the backing of one of the worlds biggest metal labels and have toured with some heavyweight bands already. Time will tell what becomes of this band, and it will be interesting to see where they go from here. But in the here and now I’d be inclined to say 2010 is going to belong to Mutiny Within and you can count on that.