Communic – The Bottom Deep

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Having released their first three full-length albums in the span of just four years Norwegian progressive metal outfit Communic have taken their time a little bit more with their fourth offering, releasing it three years after their last album Payment of Existence. Heavier, much more song-based and far less progressive than previous outtings, but with no discernable reduction in the technicality of their playing, Communic have never sounded more like Nevermore in their career. They took steps towards this sound on Payment of Existence, but have now fully realised it, epitomising the sound with Flood River Blood, which has everything Nevermore are comprised of. Vocalist Oddleif Stensland sounds like Warrel Dane, delivers the vocal melodies like Warrel Dane, and the guitar parts simply drip with Jeff Loomis’s sound. And that just about sums up the album. It’s as good as any of the previous trio of discs, if not better, and indeed as good as anything Nevermore have done, and to take anything away from the sheer majesty of something like Wayward Soul and its solemn outro partner The Bottom Deep would be unfair, but the fact that it all sounds just like the Americans can’t be ignored. In actual fact The Bottom Deep is Communic’s most accessible and immediately enjoyable record to date, but it has to lose a point for sounding quite so much like someone else.

Written by Andy Lye
More: 2011, Albums, Heavy Metal, Progressive, Quick.Play Reviews, Communic