Exit Ten are a melodic metalcore band from Reading UK, and
"This World They'll Drown" is their first major release, on the back of heavy touring supporting more famous bands such as Avenged Sevenfold and Every Time I Die, and playing the Download Festival.
The band are fast making a name for themselves and gaining a lot of attention in the UK, and it's easy to see why; they've taken the standard metalcore template used by countless bands over the last few years and injected it with spine tingling melodies, both instrumental and vocal, and with a little more exposure, could very well give the genre the kick up the arse it desperately needs.
The instrumental parts veer from chugging breakdowns and blastbeat-fuelled heaviness (see the intro to
"Softwatch") to more melodic lead-guitar filled parts, like those in
"Resume Ignore." However, throughout this mini-album, the emphasis is on melody, and this is brought to the fore by the emphatic vocals of Ryan Redman. His clean vocal style lies somewhere between that of Finch's Nate Barcalow (his stronger work on the second Finch album to be more exact) and Howard Jones of Killswitch Engage, and despite rarely drifting into screaming (although there are some harsh vocals dotted about the duration of the songs), this style is incredibly effective, with Ryan throwing out soaring tunes, bolstered by the heavy guitar, bass and drum work.
Such is the quality of the vocal delivery, and the relative brutality of the instrumental parts that back it, that lyrics which veer a little too closely to emo cliches, such as
"I can't hold back tears in my eyes" (from
"Fine Night") seem heartfelt and hard-hitting, as opposed to whiney and obnoxious. The aforementioned brutality of instrumentals is increased tenfold for closer
"My Great Rebellion," where finger-burning fretwork, and lightning fast double bass are used, and Ryan's vocals are taken up a notch too.
There is very little of the typical verse-chorus-verse structure to be found here, with the band prefering to mix various parts up. Occasionally this can lead to a bit of a stalling effect (case in point being the part just after the intro of the otherwise excellent
"A Path To Take," where one would expect the crescendo of the intro to lead into a fast-paced or heavy part, rather than the subdued section that follows) but mostly, this adds to the variety and unpredictability of the music. And while not exactly reaching Dillinger Escape Plan levels of craziness, the odd weird time signature is thrown in here and there to good effect.
Overall,
"This World They'll Drown" is a strong debut from a promising young band. If you like metal or metalcore, and have an ear for a good melody, I recommend giving this a listen.
RATING ---> 3.5/5
Recommended Tracks:
All Of Them!
