Society’s Plague – “Call to the Void” (Eclipse Records)

Infusing just the right amount of clean vocals into their potent mix of thrash and melodic death metal, Lexington, Kentucky’s Society’s Plague have delivered a memorable heavy record that’s more modern metal than metalcore with their second full length Call to the Void. 

Society’s Plague’s entire arsenal is on display right off the bat on “Ashes For Air,” a pummeling affair full of razor ship riffs, thunderous drumming and truly dynamic vocals, a successful cacophonous recipe that bleeds over onto “Whispers,” an early highlight of Call to the Void. Soilwork’s Bjorn ‘Speed’ Strid lends his operatic vocals to “Distant Waves,” creating an absolutely stunning pairing with vocalist Matt Newton, combining sky-high soaring refrains with low-end guttural screams. “The Fall” succeeds despite the questionable inclusion of a bed of synth thanks in large part to video game quality leads (seriously though, couldn’t you imagine these guitars in the next Mega Man?), “Broken By Design” and “Paramnesia” are epic slices of modern metal and Nelson shows off some of his melodic chops on “Fear Is Failure.” One of the strengths of Call to the Void is that it doesn’t fade down the stretch, as closer “Rise Of The Eidolon” is one of the album’s best tracks.

Sophomore slump be damned – Call to the Void is pretty impressive to say the least.

Go Download: “Distant Waves”