365 Days of Metal: WTF Wednesday, Structural Collapse

Day 71

Structures - Divided By

Band Origin: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Genre: Metalcore / Progressive

Label: Sumerian Records

Running Time: 33 minutes

Release Date: October 24, 2011

Best Worst Part: The part where my headphones exploded (not literally), 45 seconds into the record.

Favorite Tracks: Encounter..., Clockwork, In Pursuit Of, and /

Grade: 2

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Divided By in 20ish words or less:

Their self released EP was heavy as fuck, technical and memorable for all the right reasons. Divided By is memorable - but for all the wrong reasons.

The Band:

Structures is a five piece metal band from Toronto who provide high-energy and heavy as fuck performances with their blend of hardcore and progressive metal. After self-releasing a highly memorable EP in early 2010, touring excessively and garnering a strong following in both the Canadian music scene and abroad, the band was eventually signed on to Sumerian Records in June of 2011, leading to the announcement of the release of their future debut record to come in the fall.

Structures previous release was their EP All of the Above which was released April 6, 2010.

Jay's Take on Divided By: 

Structures EP All of the Above was a great self-released effort when I first got my hands on it - and also got to witness the performance live, on more than one occasion. I had reasonably good expectations for Divided By as the band had managed to do a good job of impressing me in the past, which is why I feel equally torn by what's coming next. I'll get one thing out of the way, Structures are great live performers and clearly have talent - the album does feature some good grooves and composition work but the problem is it gets jumbled in the loudness of the album. The end result is an album with a high level of potential, that instead sounds like a fuzzy, overamplified mess. 

For a great rundown on the primary gripe that many people have with Divided By, I encourage you to read the article JR posted on Heavy Blog is Heavy on October 25th, on the topic of Structures new album. I read this the day it landed on the page and it honestly didn't give me a good feeling going forward towards my eventual first run of the album, which I only got around to purchasing after my long Halloween/Graduation weekend.

Sumerian are known for generally having a generally high level of production quality with their records, just take any of their more recent releases as examples: e.g. Betraying The Martyrs, Born of Osiris, or even something from last year Veil of Maya's [id]. There has been no problem in the past with heavy bands losing any points in the production quality department - Divided By is the odd man out. The album is unbearably loud during its heaviest moments, with breakdowns and bass drops sounding as if they came from the cutting room floor of tracking a brutal deathcore album. I've listened through the album four to five times, but listening to it in one sitting with headphones is a chore, especially without readjusting the volume and equalizer just to make sure I don't blow my own head off. 

I have to agree wholeheartedly with JR on this one - Divided By sounds terrible and is definitely the worst produced album I've heard from this year - which is a damned shame.

Sample of the Day:

Here's the re-recorded album version of the track In Pursuit Of which was on All of the Above. Be warned, the final minute pushes the limits of overamplified fuzziness. And below, the self-released EP version of the same track. Judge for yourselves.







- J