I Am Heresy – Thy Will (Century Media)
Wednesday, 26th February 2014
A partial red flag goes up with the mention of a Boysetsfire member entrenched in the ranks of New Jersey/Delaware sextet I Am Heresy. It has more to do with metal’s general aversion to the wishy-washy post-hardcore front than anything…it’s not like Boysetsfire are a bum deal – they’re not. These types general don’t entice the long-hairs, that’s all. Never the matter, for I Am Heresy are a relatively fresh-faced act, very much along the lines of more-metal hardcore with a message; very agro, and politically-motivated, per the usual.
The band’s Thy Will comes with a message, of course, going to battle for the oppressed and miscast, which runs in concert with the punk froth that accompanies a whole slew of these tunes. And for the most part, the well-directed spite and anger works, like on “Our Father” (see lots of pissed vocals, double-bass, and mosh parts) or the brazen “Year Zero in the Temple of Fire,” which emerges as the album’s most furious and well-concocted number.
All sorts of vocal mutations come from main dude/vocalist Nathan Gray (he of the aforementioned Boysetsfire). He’s at his most convincing when the spit and verbal barbs are flying, like on “Destruction Anthems” as well as “Blasphemy Incarnate.” One could do without some of the cleanly-sung parts, though, as they’re a bit bombed out during “As We Break” and “Seven Wolves and the Daughters Of.” Then again, they’re all a part of a rather sonically huge package, one that takes three guitarists to construct, thus making I Am Heresy an outsider whose message and delivery should have no problem resonating with its intended audience.
