75%
Be’lakor set themselves up promptly as a band to take notice of way back in 2007 with their debut The Frail Tide. Their trajectory since then has only been upward despite not being particularly active as a live band and the gap since Vessels left some wondering if Be’lakor were still a thing.
Thankfully, they are, and Coherence is a fine return from the wilderness for one of Australia’s finest melodic death metal acts. In the past they’ve been pegged as progressive, but that description probably hinges on expansive arrangements than on any reliance on sweeping time-signature changes or non-metal inflections creeping into their songs. A better overall descriptor would be dynamic and free-flowing.
Tracks like Locus and Valence ebb and flow with fluid transitions between episodes of light and shade; there are moments in both where the catchiest riffs echo those in songs from Vessels. Less dynamic are the vocals. Maintaining a steady low growl throughout, they sometimes blend into the songs so well that an entire track like Sweep of Days can go by without noticing they aren’t there. The main body of Coherence is so seamless that everything from Foothold to Hidden Window flows together like one long suite, without a lot to distinguish one song from the next – it’s not coherency (no pun intended) or ability that’s lacking, it’s a sense of uniqueness, something that makes it stand apart from the previous album.
Coherence also meanders too much occasionally, as if Be’lakor weren’t quite sure when to let go of a riff or idea. The riffs and ideas are good though, so it’s easy to forgive them, and the towering epic that closes the album ties all of them together but one is still left feeling somewhat hollow – while this is a strong concept, Be’lakor haven’t quite delivered a masterpiece.
