Review Summary: Probably the worst record I ever heard, Steven Seagal included.
Usually, I’m not big on the more “extreme” genres of metal. I do like most thrash metal, but death, black, doom and all the different “cores” very seldom interest me. The huge exceptions are bands like Trivium, God Forbid and All That Remains, but that is because they inject something very important into their songs:
melody.
In fact, melody is one of the key elements to determine whether or not I like a genre. I simply must have something to either shout along to, or air-guitar along to. A song that contains neither simply slips out of my mind (and my mp3 player).
That is why it was surprising for me when I found myself liking We Are The End’s debut EP,
Sky’s Most Wanted. Usually, deathcore is not really my thing, being entirely devoid of the elements mentioned above; and yet, here I was grooving to this band. That might have been because of the small number of songs on the album (only three), which kept me from having to listen to the same damn thing over and over for forty minutes. Bottom line is: I liked it, and it got me thinking that maybe I could come to like deathcore as a genre.
That’s why, when I saw another three-track EP for another underground Myspace band, I went and downloaded it. Heck, I downloaded
both of their three-track EP’s. My “talent scout” strand came up in full force, and I thought maybe I had just discovered a new unsigned jewel. Plus, supporting the underground has always been my thing, and I’m happy to endorse any band which proves to have quality in their music.
This band, however, has no quality in their music.
Judging by the sparse information found on that Well of Knowledge known as the Internet, Your Own Destroyer hail from California,and the only records to their name are the two inspiredly-titled EP’s,
Demo and
Sampler 2008. Their band members go by such un-metallic monikers as Eazy-T and J-Stout and their music is labelled as “deathcore/hip-hop”.
Not good, right? Right.
Basically, what Your Own Destroyer do is the kind of nu-metal that has been dead for at least eight years. You know, the hippity-hoppity rapcore bull****. The difference is that they mix it with some drop-B guitars and call it “deathcore”. Add some ***ty ,all-over-the-place songwriting, and you have one turgid band.
Now, there are a few good things to this band. First of all, the production’s pretty good. And it has a cool cover. And….that’s about it. All the rest of the record is absolutely ridiculous, directionless music that wants to be “dope” and “edgy”, but falls flat on its pompous ***. Listening to this album, the only impression you get is one of chaotic white noise, fronted by some god-awful thug-rapping. The drummer seems incapable of keeping a beat for more than three seconds, while the guitarist plays the same riff for three songs straight, and not even in time with the drums. The poor bass player tries to come up with something interesting, but gets caught in the mess his bandmates are creating. And the vocals…oh, God, the vocals.
Imagine, for a second, Corey Taylor on the first Slipknot album, or Chad Gray in the early Mudvayne efforts. Now imagine either of those guys was trying to be a gangsta rapper from da ‘hood. You got it?
That’s the singer for this band. Not only can he not rap, he is not even consistent in his delivery, going for a Corey Taylor vibe on one song and a 50 Cent vibe on the next, and failing utterly at both. As for his “lyrics”, they’re the most pathetic, infantile bull**** I’ve heard in a long time. They make 50 Cent sound like a genius. The make
Eminem sound mature, for chrissakes! And his flow sucks, making him seem constantly out of breath and struggling to keep up with the (slow- to mid-tempo) beats. The deathcore growls (delivered by someone else, I assume) are actually not that bad, but even they sound a little shallow and lacking substance.
As for the songs being memorable of catchy, well, they’re not. They’re basically incoherent slabs of fake angst and agression, that leave you feeling completely blank once their running time is over. If they conjure up any sentiment at all, it’s hate for this stupid band. And did I mention they’re basically the same song, three times over?
Now, I understand repetitiousness is one of the characteristics of deathcore. That’s fine by me. But this…this is disastrous. This is just bad music, made by a terrible band, regardless of the genre. As you may have gathered by now, I won’t be supporting Your Own Destroyer anytime soon. In fact, if anything, I hope this band dies a horrible, isolated and preferably painful death. Unfortunately, judging by their Myspace comments, that is not likely to happen.
However, it’s not too late to stop this disease from spreading, so I’ll tell you this: if this site had a “zero” rating, this f***ing band would have the “honor” of being the first to ever be graced with it. Since there is no 0/5, they’re getting the lowest possible rating, a .5. But they don’t even deserve that much. I could go easy on this band, since this is just a demo, but I won’t. They suck, and they would suck no matter what. So don’t support them, don’t buy their stuff and for the love of God don’t go to their shows. Just stay the hell away. All of you.
Stay. The hell. Away.
Recommended Tracks
None!!!! Stay the f*** away from this band!
