Proponent for Sentience

Last updated
Proponent for Sentience
Proponent for Sentience.jpg
Studio album by
Allegaeon
ReleasedSeptember 23, 2016
RecordedJanuary–February 2016
StudioFlatline Audio in Fort Collins, CO
Genre
Length72:05
Label Metal Blade
Producer Dave Otero
Allegaeon chronology
Elements of the Infinite
(2014)		Proponent for Sentience
(2016)		 Apoptosis
(2019)
Singles from Proponent for Sentience
  1. "Gray Matter Mechanics"
    Released: July 14, 2016
  2. "Proponent for Sentience III - The Extermination"
    Released: August 10, 2016
  3. "Subdivisions"
    Released: August 23, 2016

Proponent for Sentience is the fourth studio album by American death metal band Allegaeon. It is the band's first release with vocalist Riley McShane and the first to feature clean vocals. [1] The album was released on September 23, 2016, through Metal Blade Records. This is the band's last release with bassist Corey Archuleta, who announced he would be leaving the band at the end of 2016. [2]

Contents

The album was produced by Dave Otero, who produced the band's debut album and previous release, Elements of the Infinite .

Release

"Gray Matter Mechanics – Apassionata Ex Machinea" was the first song released from the album, being released on July 14, 2016. The song marked vocalist Riley McShane's debut with the band. [3] On August 10 the band released the second song from the album, "Proponent for Sentience III – The Extermination", which features guest vocals from Björn "Speed" Strid of Soilwork and guest guitar from Benjamin Ellis of Scar Symmetry. [4] On August 23, Allegaeon released a cover of "Subdivisions", originally by Canadian progressive rock band Rush. [5] A week later on August 30, a music video was released for the song "All Hail Science". The video was shot at Black Sky Brewery in Denver, Colorado. [6]

The album was made available for streaming on September 21 through MetalSucks. [7] The album was released two days later on September 23 via Metal Blade Records.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Metal Hammer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Metal Injection9/10 [9]
New Noise Magazine Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [10]

Upon release, Proponent for Sentience received positive reviews from music critics.

Reviewing the album for Metal Hammer , Jason Hicks gave the album 3.5 stars out of 5. Hicks said the extended flamenco passage at the end of "Gray Matter Mechanics" could be potentially jarring and felt that the album's science concept was "samey", but praised the band's musicianship and McShane's vocals, especially on album opener "Proponent for Sentience I – The Conception". [8] New Noise Magazine gave the album 4 out of 5 stars and criticized the album's 72 minute run-time and called some of the album's writing sub-par, but said the album is "Allegaeon's best and most complete work to date." The reviewer also praised the song "Proponent for Sentience III – The Extermination" for feeling "like a natural conclusion, with its Grade A melodies and hair-raising moments." [10]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Allegaeon, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Proponent for Sentience I - The Conception" 6:23
2."All Hail Science" 3:24
3."From Nothing" 5:00
4."Gray Matter Mechanics - Apassionata Ex Machinea" 8:18
5."Of Mind and Matrix" 5:33
6."Proponent for Sentience II - The Algorithm" 8:19
7."Demons of an Intricate Design" 4:25
8."Terrathaw and the Quake" 6:10
9."Cognitive Computations" 5:58
10."The Arbiters" 6:11
11."Proponent for Sentience III - The Extermination" (featuring Björn "Speed" Strid and Benjamin Ellis) 6:59
12."Subdivisions" (Rush cover) Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart 5:25
Total length:72:05

Personnel

Allegaeon

Additional

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soilwork</span> Swedish melodic death metal band

Soilwork is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Helsingborg. They are signed to Nuclear Blast. Formed in late 1995 by Björn Strid and Peter Wichers, originally under the name Inferior Breed, the band changed their name in late 1996 to Soilwork.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Between the Buried and Me</span> American progressive metalcore band

Between the Buried and Me, often abbreviated as BTBAM, is an American progressive metalcore band from Raleigh, North Carolina. Formed in 2000, the band consists of Tommy Giles Rogers Jr., Paul Waggoner, Dan Briggs, Dustie Waring (guitar) and Blake Richardson (drums).

<i>Steelbath Suicide</i> 1998 studio album by Soilwork

Steelbath Suicide is the debut studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Soilwork. It was released on 20 May 1998 through Listenable and Century Media labels. It is the only album to feature guitarist Ludvig Svartz and drummer Jimmy Persson.

<i>A Predators Portrait</i> 2001 studio album by Soilwork

A Predator's Portrait is the third studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Soilwork. It was released on 19 February 2001, and was reissued on 15 October 2013 in the U.S. and 18 October 2013 in Europe. This is the last album to feature Carlos Del Olmo Holmberg on keyboards. According to Nielsen Soundscan, the album sold 6.326 copies in the US as of 2002.

<i>Natural Born Chaos</i> 2002 studio album by Soilwork

Natural Born Chaos is the fourth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Soilwork. According to Nielsen Soundscan, the album sold 2.267 copies in the US as of 2002.

<i>Figure Number Five</i> 2003 studio album by Soilwork

Figure Number Five is the fifth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Soilwork. The record was released on 22 April 2003 through Nuclear Blast label. On this release, the band introduces more elements of alternative metal into their melodic death metal style. This would be the last album with Henry Ranta on drums before he left the band after its release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Björn Strid</span> Swedish singer

Björn Ove Ingemar "Speed" Strid is a Swedish vocalist who has worked with rock/metal bands such as Allegaeon, Disarmonia Mundi, Terror 2000, Coldseed, The Night Flight Orchestra, Act of Denial, Gizmachi, and most notably Soilwork.

Disarmonia Mundi is a melodic death metal band from Avigliana, Italy, that started out as a progressive death metal band. The project is the brainchild of the producer and multi-instrumentalist Ettore Rigotti and is mainly known for featuring Soilwork's vocalist Björn "Speed" Strid as guest vocalist on several albums. After releasing two albums under Scarlet Records, they have signed to Italy-based Coroner Records.

<i>Sworn to a Great Divide</i> 2007 studio album by Soilwork

Sworn to a Great Divide is the seventh studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Soilwork. The album was released on 19 October 2007 for Europe and on 23 October 2007 for the US, both through Nuclear Blast. Everything aside from vocals was recorded at Not Quite Studios in Helsingborg. This is the only album to include Daniel Antonsson on guitar who replaced founding member Peter Wichers after his late 2005 departure. It is also the last album to feature long-time guitarist Ola Frenning who left Soilwork in February 2008.

Terror 2000 is a Swedish thrash metal band from Helsingborg.

Mutiny Within is an American heavy metal band from Edison, New Jersey. The band was formed in 2002 by bassist Andrew Jacobs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wovenwar</span> American metal band

Wovenwar is an American metal band from Southern California, formed in 2013. They released their self-titled debut album in 2014. The band's musical style on the album has been described as alternative metal, melodic metalcore, hard rock, and modern heavy metal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allegaeon</span> American metal band

Allegaeon is an American technical melodic death metal band from Fort Collins, Colorado, formed in 2008. They have released one EP and six studio albums and are currently signed to Metal Blade Records.

<i>Formshifter</i> 2012 studio album by Allegaeon

Formshifter is the second studio album by American death metal band Allegaeon. The album was released on May 8, 2012 through Metal Blade Records. As the band did not employ a drummer during the album's production, all drum parts were handled by session musician J.P. Andrande. The album charted at no. 29 on the Top Heatseekers chart.

<i>Elements of the Infinite</i> 2014 studio album by Allegaeon

Elements of the Infinite is the third studio album by American death metal band Allegaeon. The album was released on June 24, 2014 through Metal Blade Records. This is the band's first release with guitarist Michael Stancel and drummer Brandon Park, and last with original vocalist Ezra Haynes before his departure in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Night Flight Orchestra</span> Swedish rock band

The Night Flight Orchestra is a Swedish rock band from Helsingborg. Formed in 2007 by Björn Strid and David Andersson while they were touring in the US with their band Soilwork, they were later joined by bassist Sharlee D'Angelo, Richard Larsson, Jonas Källsbäck and, more recently, Sebastian Forslund (Kadwatha). They have released six studio albums.

<i>The Ride Majestic</i> 2015 studio album by Soilwork

The Ride Majestic is the tenth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Soilwork. It was released on 28 August 2015 and is the first album to not feature longtime bassist Ola Flink who left before the recording of the album and also the last album to feature longtime drummer Dirk Verbeuren, who left the band in July 2016 to join Megadeth.

"Animate" is a song by Canadian progressive rock band Rush from their 1993 album Counterparts. The song reached number 35 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart in 1994, staying on the charts for three weeks.

<i>Apoptosis</i> (album) 2019 studio album by Allegaeon

Apoptosis is the fifth studio album by American death metal band Allegaeon. Produced by the band's longtime producer Dave Otero, the album was released on April 23, 2019 through Metal Blade Records. This is the first Allegaeon record to feature bassist Brandon Michael and the last to feature drummer Brandon Park.

<i>Övergivenheten</i> 2022 studio album by Soilwork

Övergivenheten is the twelfth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Soilwork, released on 19 August 2022 via Nuclear Blast. It marks the first album with new bassist Rasmus Ehrnborn who joined as a touring member for the previous album Verkligheten cycle and became a permanent member in 2022, also making this album the first recorded as a six-piece since 2013's The Living Infinite. This was the last album to feature guitarist David Andersson who died on 14 September 2022.

References

  1. ↑ "ALLEGAEON Covers RUSH's "Subdivisions" And Stays True To The Prog Gods". Metal Injection. August 23, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  2. ↑ Childers, Chad (October 25, 2016). "Allegaeon Bassist Corey Archuleta to Exit Band". Loudwire . Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  3. ↑ Rosenberg, Axl (July 14, 2016). ""Gray Matter Mechanics - Apassionata Ex Machinea": Allegaeon Release First Song with New Vocalist". MetalSucks . Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  4. ↑ Kennelty, Greg (August 11, 2016). "ALLEGAEON"s Play Through For "Proponent For Sentience III" Features A Paper SOILWORK Frontman". Metal Injection. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Allegaeon premieres 'Subdivisions' (Rush cover)". Metal Blade Records. August 23, 2016. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Allegaeon launches "All Hail Science" performance video online". Metal Blade Records. August 30, 2016. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Exclusive Album Stream: Allegaeon, Proponent for Sentience". MetalSucks. September 21, 2016. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  8. 1 2 Hicks, Jason (September 8, 2016). "Allegaeon album review - Proponent For Sentience". Metal Hammer . Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  9. ↑ Lambert, Aaron (October 6, 2016). "Album Review: ALLEGAEON Proponent for Sentience". Metal Injection. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  10. 1 2 "Album Review: Allegaeon - 'Proponent for Sentience'". New Noise Magazine . September 28, 2016. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  11. 1 2 Bowar, Chad (August 10, 2016). "Allegaeon to Unleash New Album 'Proponent for Sentience'". Loudwire . Retrieved September 25, 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.