Return to Earth – Automata (2010)

With a very interesting and hard to peg sound, today we have Return to Earth’s second album “Automata”. Featuring ex- The Dillinger Escape Plan and current Coheed & Cambria’s drummer Chris Pennie, the band is ready to step in a bigger spotlight with this very solid sophomore release.

“Automata” features 16 songs that range from weird sample/loopy stuff to full-on hard rock anthems that will stick to your head like duct tape. The album’s flow is very interesting since you wouldn’t expect such different songs to come together as they do here, the interludes between groups of songs (the tracks “1.0”, “2.0”, and “3.0”) create a very efficient separation of ‘movements’ in this release.

As you can expect the drumming is top notch, and it features some ‘old-school’ Dillinger Escape Plan elements, and some current Coheed & Cambria influences. This creates a very unique experience, and even if you don’t like C&C (like us), this album gives a different (and ‘heavier’) vibe, while retaining some elements. Tracks like “You Will Be Replaced” and “Night of the Exploding Razors” feature the best drumming tracks of this release.

Handling the vocals and piano we have Ron Scalzo (a.k.a Q*Ball). Providing a very solid overall performance, we find some similarities to Nine Inch Nails and even some hints of Faith No More, but the ‘screams’ sometimes are just dreadful. We think that there was no need for ‘harsh’ vocals/screams since the music is heavy enough, however, Ron’s clean vocal harmonies in songs like “Snakeface” and “God at the End of the World” make us forget about these ‘indiscretions’.

Rounding up the mix we have Brett Aveni handling all the guitars and bass guitar duties. While not very brutal, the guitar work of this album is somewhat the ‘heaviest’ thing that Return to Earth has. Brett mixes everything from Hard Rock to Metal riffs, thus creating a very rich sound that is both aggressive and radio friendly. This will surely open the band’s audience to a wide range of people, anything from Hard Rock fans to alternative Metal listeners.

Songs like “Automata” showcase the full potential of the band, by having powerful vocal lines, crushing guitars, interesting piano/synths/samples, and massive drumming. If the entire album was as consistent as this, we would be praising it even more. We feel that sometimes the listener might get boggled down by all the variety of elements that the album has to offer, but once you give it enough time, you will add it to your constant rotation.

In general, “Automata” is a very solid effort from a band that is promising. We can only expect that Pennies makes enough time in his C&C schedule to give this band its deserved attention. If you are a fan of most mainstream Hard Rock/Metal, you will definitely enjoy this release.

Release: August 17th, 2010

Country: USA