Review Summary: A new Death Metal/Metalcore band worth your attention, but has some to improve on before they shock anyone.
I was thinking of getting into some new bands, so I heard about these guys in the forums, so I decided to give it a shot. I heard they were a different kind of Deathcore, more influenced in melodic death, so I gave it a try. For all of those who don’t know who this band is they are a five piece Death Metal/Metalcore act from Melbourne, Australia. The influences are listed as from Death Metal acts of Nile and Behemoth, to death grind act of Beneath The Massacre.
Right off the bat with the first song you heard the major death metal influences in the opening intro riff, with the hammering of the louder drums. It almost sounds like Dissection like riffs with double bass that’s turned up higher. Then you hear the vocals that are a cross from guttural, to a deeper scream. The trade off is much like other bands such as The Black Dahlia Murder would do, which is interesting, but many bands have been known to copy them. What makes this band different from the rest of those Deathcore and American Melodic Death Metal bands are the trade offs from having a dark heavy atmosphere to an almost jazzy, lay back atmosphere. In those slower moments there sometimes will be a little bit of clean hardcore singing, more talking, much like you see in normal Metalcore bands like As I Lay Dying, and the like. Now for those that hate breakdowns, the turn off will be the decent amount of breakdown, and at time can be very generic and well…typical. In defense of the breakdowns, there are some interesting ways they get into them like using odd riffs going into them much like The Red Chord.
The high points in this album is the different sections of the songs that go from slow to Death Metal, that give a break for the listener from the Death Metal sections. Also, at times you can hear the bass in the softer moments which is nice to hear since many Deathcore bands forget they even have a bass player. They show potential in there song writing skills, as no song really sounds too much the same, and put different elements in each of there songs. The downfall of this album is the hardcore like clean singing like chants in some songs that get old the farther into the disc. Overall, this EP is worth giving a try, but its not as Melodic Death Metal influenced as I thought it was, it shows its Metalcore roots more often than not, but its not at all as generic as many other bands in there sub-genre.
Track Standouts:
The Valentines Day Massacre - for listeners of Death Metal
Effigy of Death - for listeners of Metalcore
This Message Edited On 12.27.07
