''Proponent for Sentience'' is the fourth studio album by American

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

band

Allegaeon Allegaeon is an American extreme metal band from Fort Collins, Colorado, formed in 2008. They have released one EP and six studio albums. History Allegaeon was formed in 2007. They initially played small shows, at bars and houses in and arou ...

. It is the band's first release with vocalist Riley McShane and the first to feature clean vocals. The album was released on September 23, 2016 through

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...

. This is the band's last release with bassist Corey Archuleta, who announced he would be leaving the band at the end of 2016. The album was produced by Dave Otero, who produced the band's debut album and previous release, ''

Elements of the Infinite ''Elements of the Infinite'' is the third studio album by American death metal band Allegaeon. The album was released on June 24, 2014 through Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Bria ...

''.

Release

"Gray Matter Mechanics – Apassionata Ex Machinea" was the first song released from the album, being released on July 14, 2016. The song marked vocalist Riley McShane's debut with the band. On August 10 the band released the second song from the album, "Proponent for Sentience III – The Extermination", which features guest vocals from Björn "Speed" Strid of

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and guest guitar from Benjamin Ellis of

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. On August 23, Allegaeon released a cover of "

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", originally by Canadian

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. A week later on August 30, a music video was released for the song "All Hail Science". The video was shot at Black Sky Brewery in

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Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. The album was made available for streaming on September 21 through

MetalSucks MetalSucks is a heavy metal music-themed news website. The site features reviews, interviews, information on latest metal releases and blog-like posts from the writers, most notably Vince Neilstein and Axl Rosenberg. History The site was foun ...

. The album was released two days later on September 23 via

Reception

Upon release, ''Proponent for Sentience'' received positive reviews from music critics. Reviewing the album for ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

'', Jason Hicks gave the album 3.5 stars out of 5. Hicks said the extended

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passage at the end of "Gray Matter Mechanics" could be potentially jarring and felt that the album's science concept was "samey", but praised the band's musicianship and McShane's vocals, especially on album opener "Proponent for Sentience I – The Conception". ''

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'' gave the album 4 out of 5 stars and criticized the album's 72 minute run-time and called some of the album's writing sub-par, but said the album is "Allegaeon's best and most complete work to date." The reviewer also praised the song "Proponent for Sentience III – The Extermination" for feeling "like a natural conclusion, with its Grade A melodies and hair-raising moments."

Track listing

Personnel

Allegaeon * Riley McShane – lead vocals * Greg "Greggoroth" Burgess – lead guitar, classical guitar, acoustic guitar, orchestration * Michael Stancel – rhythm guitar * Corey Archuleta – bass, backing vocals * Brandon Park – drums, percussion Additional * Björn "Speed" Strid – guest vocals on track 11 * Benjamin Ellis – guest guitar solo on track 11 * Dave Otero – production and mastering * Joseph Ferris – orchestration, sequencing * Sam Nelson – artwork

References

{{Authority control 2016 albums Allegaeon albums Metal Blade Records albums Concept albums