Review Summary: Ground Zzzzzzzzzzz
As Blood Runs Black are remembered somewhat fondly by those who listened to them back in the day, much in the same vein as more fringe 'core acts like The Crimson Armada, From The Shallows and Hester Prynne. Part of the middle-of-the-road metalcore/ deathcore wave of the late 2000s/ early 2010s, their first album 'Allegiance', which is the predominant reason for the rose-tinted nostalgia, was an entertaining and diverse album that wasn't afraid to toy with the boundaries of what scene kids would accept as sufficiently br00tal. Breakdown-heavy for sure, the band also encompassed widdly solos, a notable proggy influence and occasional cleans into their stew that were well-received and fitting in their incorporation. The willingness to diversify and experiment with elements considered cornerstones of deathcore is undoubtedly the main reason they are looked back upon with such pride; they were brave. Unfortunately, however, with every subsequent release ABRB have continued to tarnish their own legacy, becoming consistently more derivative and unexciting. Their follow-up 'Instinct' was a bland, uninspired metalcore record that trod water like you and I breathe oxygen. Not outright bad by any stretch, but there are certainly arguments to be made as to whether tedious is worse than being of poor quality. Nonetheless, 'room for improvement' as a stamp of assessment is a crossroads- a point at which observations can be made and aspects improved upon, before things get any worse. ABRB had this opportunity, and instead of elevating their output, continued on their path and even regressed their sound. The title 'Ground Zero' implies a return to roots- a step backward to the initial phases of a band's career, where all the best aspects were unadulterated and the aesthetic was it its most entertaining. Sadly, in this case, 'Ground Zero' refers to a step down to the band's most basic aspects. Stripping out all complexity and experimentation, the record is rife with uninspired breakdowns, underdeveloped riffs, and cringe-inducing lyrics that awkwardly straddle that post-hardcore/ metalcore border we thought had been eliminated years ago.
'You made a deal with the devil in the city of angels', taken from opening track 'City Limits' (not to mention the most ABRB sounding song the album has to offer), is one of the cringiest vocal snippets ever to hit my ear. Honestly, what kind of adult wrote that, recorded it in a gruff voice, listened to it back, and thought, 'yeah that's cool, leave it in.' It's disgraceful and makes a violently middling track even more unremarkable. I just had to mention this excerpt as it's one of the first things to smack listeners in the face when they start this journey, so it sets a solid precedent for things to come. There are some moments where ABRB attempts to capture more of their vibe of yore, such as through the fretwork and and ticcing breakdown on the title track. These, coupled with the shout-along group vocal used intermittently throughout has the air of In Dying Days, but doesn't invoke any more than the atmosphere, feeling underwritten and cheap overall. The riffs all over Ground Zero are exceptionally banal, with 'Vision' and 'All Or Nothing' begrudgingly laying claim to the best on the album. The worst, undoubtedly, is found on 'Eulogy'. Poorly implemented and whiplash-inducingly jarring, it stutters like an engine failing to turn over, and attempts to balance this throwaway jittering with a soaring, clean vocal passage, and one of the most boring breakdowns on the record. The song is mess, and a farce for ABRB considering the quality that they are able to produce when they are actually putting in the work and invested in their output. Much like the laziness exhibited by the hook and structure of follow-up track 'Limitless', the entire project indicates a half-assing of things, and/ or a general lack of motivation.
As annoyed as I am with this LP, it's definitely not the worst thing I've ever heard. It isn't even the worst thing I've heard this week. It's more insulting than anything else when an album does nothing but bore me. I have time for outright bad albums; there's cache in it. There's talking points, jokes and mockeries to be made. Tedium just makes me feel like I've wasted my time- and this fact is exacerbated when it's a band that I at one point had enjoyed very much. There isn't a single track on Ground Zero that I feel is 'good' or worth a recommendation. There are moments where the release manages to vaguely capture the energetic rage that I hoped would be here by the shovelful - the outro of 'Limitless', the chugging harmonies of 'An Oath', the melodies on 'All or Nothing'- but these moments are fleeting at best and do not capture the band in their prime or push them in any new, meaningful directions. The lyrical preoccupations do little to further develop the sound, being mostly a cliché-ridden diatribe of social alienation and horror imagery balanced with conscious admonitions and uplifting cheese. A lot of the lyrics mean well, but don't pave any new ground and are mostly simply inoffensive and twee. Much like the rest of the album, the content is unremarkable, and although the vocal technique used to transmit them does its job well enough, it constantly falls against the flat backdrop presented by the music itself. It maintains consistency throughout for sure, but it never progresses beyond mediocre at best, boring at worst.
After slogging through this dry, unrelenting stodge far more times than it deserves, a strange revelation hit me; the actual tonality and sound of the band hasn't changed all that much. It still retains the same supercharged gut-punch riffs and chugalug breakdowns that I recall adoring all those years ago. It even has the same guitar/ drum tone, and the same machine-gun melodies- so what's the problem here? Why is this album so mind-numbingly bland? It all comes down to the diversity of sound. Or rather, the lack thereof. Allegiance felt like riding a rollercoaster blindfolded- every shunt into a new musical texture felt surprising, cool, and intriguing as a movement. You wanted to see where the song would take you next. The album was hardly high art, but it was especially adept at messing with expectations, and using that surprise factor to crowbar in more idiosyncrasies that worked, partially because of the audacity, but mostly because they were genuinely entertaining asides. On every track of Ground Zero, the songwriting fatigue is palpable. Every once-strong aspect is worn down to the nub like a blunted drillbit; there's no ingenuity in the riffs or hooks anymore. The lyrical content is so cheesy even early 2010s scene kids would reject them as 'a bit much'. The breakdowns have zero conviction, and don't inspire anything other than apathy. The most tragic part of all this though, is that they sound like the same band. It's almost like an illustration for getting older in real-time; in fact, just to be sure that I wasn't just getting old, I had a non-initiate friend listen to this and then Allegiance in order to confirm that one obvious choice was clearly superior. That's the problem- Ground Zero is As Blood Runs Black with the horns sawn off, with the wings clipped, with the nails filed. It has the aggression, but none of the energy or creativity. The swore Allegiance, then they followed their Instinct, and returned to Ground Zero- maybe this three-point circle is enough of a journey to lay this once-respected beast to rest for now. Or, they could Evolve. There's a title for you lads- it's cheesy, but it fits your other album titles like a bloodied gauntlet. You're welcome.
