Review Summary: Our telos is to listen to this album.
Telos has a fairly unique sound within mathcore. While they obviously have the typical frantic riffing with complex time signatures, they also incorporate elements of black metal into their sound. From blast beats to tremolo picking to raspy shrieks, this makes Telos’s sophomore effort,
Delude, stand out from the rest of the genre.
The band's visceral intensity is established from the get go with the opener,
Within Reach, showing the vast array of styles of riffs such as the previously mentioned mathcore and black metal styles, but they also include the occasional sludgy riff, and all of these riffs are both effective and seamlessly transition from each other. The next track,
Bastion, somehow ramps up the intensity in its brief runtime with even more, yet punchier, riffs and complementary low growls. Even then, the band gets even heavier later in the album.
I’ve Been Gone For So Long gets to boast about being one of the most frenetic cuts from the album, with the most noisy section being contained here.
As Atlas Stumbled is another hectic track, and while it is fairly standard, it is still effective in its riffs and intensity.
Telos takes a shot at longer songs with
I Accept / I Receive and they pass with flying colours. It is successful in keeping a constant high level of engagement within the seven minutes. This goal is reached due to a lack of repetition and multiple memorable sections, including a (relatively) quiet section that provides a tense buildup for the song's final punch. Telos also flourishes in reaching fairly emotional and cathartic climaxes in some of their tracks.
Never Me is predominately a heavy song, but it succeeds in the quiet/loud dynamic, creating a satisfying and climactic crescendo with powerful riffs and vocals. However, I would still say the closer,
Throne, achieves this with even more impact. The track begins with sludgy riffs, which then lead to sudden and sporadic moments of noise, until the track reaches the final 90 seconds, which feature a melodic line that pairs with a tremolo riff that closes
Delude out beautifully.
While
Delude may be overflowing with superb and creative riffs, visceral vocals, and intense drumming, it is certainly lacking in variety. Yes, the odd track does play around with the quiet/loud dynamic a little bit, but that is just it. I feel like the album does need something else to really make it as impactful as it could be because it is already quite close.
But despite that,
Delude is an incredibly strong album with pretty much everything you would want from a mathcore release, and the inclusion of black metal elements feels so effortless and natural in tandem with the mathy riffs. The album is fairly unique in this regard, making it an easy recommendation to those who are fans of the genre.
