Core Device

Core Device: Our Fellowship Eternal


Here's a CD that took my by complete surprise. New Jersey's Core Device have crafted a strong metal sound on Our Fellowship Eternal that drips of influences from Nevermore, Iced Earth, and Fates Warning, yet has plenty of originality to warrant merit on its own accord. Produced with the assistance of Symphony X's Michael Romeo, Our Fellowship Eternal is chock full of intricate & heavy riffs, tasty leads, pummeling rhythms, and the soaring lead vocals of Daniel Dunphy, who also handles the keyboards. This guy can hit the high notes as well as the lower register, as he does so well on "Hell and Torment", but it's his range and ability to match the tempo and tone of the song that works so well. Sure, he sounds a bit like Warrel Dane from Nevermore, but he changes pitch more often than Warrel does these days, which is a plus in my book for Dunphy. However, every so often he throws in some death metal shouts which sound a little out of place, especially on the song "Burning Away". This type of vocal style doesn't really fit in with the nature of Core Device's music, but thankfully he doesn't use it too often.

The guitar work-well, that's the meat and potatoes of this CD, and the duo of Patrick Kehoe and Tony Nocera don't disappoint in the least. With all the histrionic vocals and crashing cymbals, these guys manage to hold everything together with muscular riffs that constantly bash and churn, whether they be straightforward riff-ola like on the atmospheric "Stranger" or complex passages that are heard on the bombastic prog-metal of "Unknown Tears". Romeo's studio talents I'm sure also had a lot to do with the great sound of the guitars, as they are crisp and heavy throughout the CD.

It will be interesting to see if Core Device can take the strong elements that make up Our Fellowship Eternal and go to the next level. My guess is there will be some interest from a few metal labels looking to scoop these guys up. They have the tools, and I predict on their next release things will really start to fall into place for them even more so than here.


Track List
1. Shadows mind
2. Our fellowship eternal
3. Forgetting
4. Hell and torment
5. Stranger
6. Green water
7. One path
8. Unknown tears
9. God and man
10. Burning away
11. Torn from within

Added: December 25th 2005
Reviewer: Pete Pardo
Score:
Related Link: Core Device Website
Hits: 408
Language: english



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CORE DEVICE - Our Fellowship Eternal
Self-Financed

ALBUM OF THE MONTH

Heavy / Thrash / Power Metal

11 songs (55:08)
Release year: 2004
Core Device


I was asked to review this CD a while back by member over at the Devin Townsend forum. Sure, I thought, I'm always down to hear new music, but I definitely didn't expect something so damn good! This is one of the best metal CDs I've heard in a long, long time and definitely a band that metal fans need to hear. They're likely better than some of your favorite bands!

Core Device is from New Jersey, they've been around since 1996 and Our Fellowship Eternal is their first full-length album following three demo EPs that are sadly no longer available. They’ve been getting a lot of attention this past year after sharing stages with heavy-hitters like Iced Earth, Nevermore, Overkill, Symphony X, King Diamond, Fates Warning, and even Morbid Angel. They’re currently gearing up for their first international tour that will take them to Japan through January/February of 2006; pretty impressive for a band that is still unsigned. And knowing those crazy, metal-obsessed Asians, Core Device is going to come home with an army of new fans, and deservedly so.

Before receiving the CD I'd not heard the band before. I expected a metal album, of course, possibly even cheesy power metal as the album title sort of suggests a band that pays tribute to all things Lord of the Rings—which they do not, for the record—but instead, to my extreme pleasure, what I got was a killer technical metal album with power metal, thrash and a little death metal thrown in the mix for good measure. If I were asked to compare Core Device to any other band I would easily suggest Nevermore. They show a bit more power metal tendencies than Nevermore, and are probably a little more melodic overall, but they are very similar in style, and the singer, Daniel Dunphy, sounds far too much like Warrell Dane to come to any other conclusion. That’s quite a comparison to live up to, right? Well, they surely deserve that comparison. The musicianship and vocals on this album are amazing! Unfortunately I have two minor complaints about this CD and one of them involves the vocals. I love how they’ve incorporated some heavier vocals here—along with the more traditional metal/power metal vocals—but sometimes—not every time—the heavier vocals seem a bit too rough compared to the rest of the vocals and music. Luckily, the heavy death-like vocals are not overdone and they are used sparingly and intelligently, a concept a lot of bands are lost on these days.

Now let’s get to the important stuff: There is not one bad song on this CD, and you'd be hard-pressed to find even an average song on here. For the most part, these are all superb tracks, well crafted, catchy and lyrically thought-provoking. The solos aren't mindless and simply there for the sake of showing off the guitarists' skills, they fit the song emotionally and they add to the music the way a solo should: Never too long, never too short, always perfectly fitting into the mix. The bass is very unique to the mix, not constantly just playing copycat to the guitars, but standing out like Greg Christian's bass lines did on Testament's albums before he left the band. The foundations of the songs are pounded out by a very capable drummer; double bass, insane fills, and precision dynamics keep this CD from losing any rhythm at all. The songs themselves aren't too technical to the point where you get lost trying to figure out where the song is going, and on the flipside the songs aren't structured in the standard verse-chorus-verse setting; there are quiet interludes, bridges, breakdowns, and vocal departures in almost every song that only add to the song’s dynamics, keeping them fresh and interesting. The production, like the music, is top-notch. You cannot ask for a better sounding CD from an unsigned band, but this might not surprise you when you find out that Michael Romeo, guitarist of Symphony X, mixed and produced the album. Well, actually, that probably does surprise you.

Everything about Our Fellowship Eternal is quality and aside from my slight complaint about the vocals the only other complaint I have is about the cover artwork. Being a huge Travis Smith (Seempieces) fan, I cringe at bad artwork in this day and age. The artwork in question is just very pixellated like it was a small picture blown up too big for its own good. But in the end that's really no reason to complain, it’s just a personal pet peeve of mine. Being an artist myself just makes me very critical when it comes to these things. Regardless, I encourage everyone to check this band out because Our Fellowship Eternal is virtually flawless!

MP3: Our Fellowship Eternal

Note: In time these links will likely becoming outdated.



Killing Songs : All of them. Take your pick! Ken 94 / 100
1 readers voted

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Show: Milwaukee Metalfest - Friday, July 30th, 2004; 3:30pm
Email Contact: coredevice@aol.com
Review by Lori Dake


One of the first bands to appear on the Milwaukee Metalfest bill, these guys from New Jersey highly impressed me! Actually, I've come to realize that every band from NJ I've ever had the chance to meet is absolutely incredible, though completely unique in their own ways; it must be something in the water out there! Core Device is a very hard-working, tight-knit group, which honestly carries a lot of weight with me. I can always tell when bands just kinda slap some shit together and expect miracles.

Core Device played on the second stage, which personally, I found to be much more energetic than the main stage (with exception to the headliners). Their vocalist, Dan, carried himself quite well, mixing lots of pure highs and thunderous lows. Timmy, their drummer, played effortlessly, almost innately, and, along with their bassist, Marty, these guys proved to have an incredibly locked backing. I was also taken by both of their guitarists, Tony and Pat, for both their unmistakable talent, as well as their ways of working off each other. The leads were mixed in well and helped elevate the music to a much higher standard.

Now I'm not just saying this because Core Device was very personable and approachable to me; go ahead and ask anyone who's ever seen them play out! I honestly didn't expect much, because for one thing, they were scheduled so early, and also because Friday is always the lower turnout. But damnit if these guys didn't draw a crowd! In just 20 short minutes, Core Device went from background music for shoppers to pulling in a tough audience from the main stage!

Check out Core Device! Definitely worth adding to your CD rotation!

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