Review Summary: An interesting debut album that falls victim to songwriting woes but shows potential.
Metalcore is a genre that is notorious for its lack of good song writing. Many bands rely on breakdown after breakdown to advance their sound, tying them together with a few riffs and if they're feeling a little saucy, a melodic chorus. On their debut album / EP, Destruction of a Rose is able to avoid this clichéd sound, but fall short of great songwriting. Still, they are able to craft an enjoyable listen.
The standout song on the album is Asiatic Cholera. I'm inclined to believe it is simply a ridiculous hardcore title, but I feel the need to define it anyway. Rather than googling it and ruining the fun, I'll simply assume that it refers to an Asian specific disease. The opening riff sounds distinctly like dragonforce; however, it’s much less gay. Now that I think about it, dragonforce may be this disease (Herman Ri), and the song may, in fact, be aptly named. Continuing on the guitar front, the intro features a "more than a riff, less than a solo" part, which is something that appears multiple times on the album. It sounds like an opening to a guitar solo, but it fizzles out after a few seconds leaving the listener wanting more. On this album, you will find the traditional breakdowns and chugging riffs, but they are not as numerous and offer a slightly more melodic sound than the genre standards. Rhythm wise, there appears to be a cowbell integrated into this song, but the sound of the other percussion, which with the production already departs from the norm, makes me doubt this observation. The percussion is solid, if not interesting, but I've never been a huge percussion fan.
After the hardcore introduction, the instruments take the backseat to the vocals in the chorus. The singer's clean vocals are good, but do little to stand out in this crowded genre. Still, the chorus is a nice, catchy change of pace before a scream signals the return to the frantic hardcore sound of the introduction. The screamed vocals on this song are pretty good for the genre and the combo of the vocalist, and guitarist make for a good range. There are both low and high screams to be found in the verses, with considerable variation for each, as well as some minor dual vocals, which may just be chalked up to the production, given its influence in this day and age.
And so this style continues for the other 3 real songs on this album. Every element found on Asiatic Cholera is found in the remaining songs, but with less success. Each and every song features the verse - chorus formula, with little to no variation. Any worthwhile and interesting moment, sans chorus, is stripped out on the other songs; apart from Obviously You're Not a Golfer, which brings itself near the standard of Asiatic Cholera. The choruses are a change of pace, but they fall victim to the same monotony as the rest of the album, with similar cliched-ish lyrics and musicianship. This sense of monotony is heightened by the length of the songs, with an average around the 5 minute mark. Asiatic Cholera and Obviously You're Not a Golfer are able to remain interesting, but the other two seem to lose steam at around 3 plus minutes. At one point, on Within These Walls, the music pauses for around 3 seconds, and then continues for another verse-chorus pattern which could've easily been removed and increased the song's appeal. This is an example of the struggle with songwriting the band has on this album. One area where they excel in their songwriting is the number of breakdowns, which, while existent, tends to be much smaller than that of their peers.
They have talent, but on this album they fail to utilize their potential, mostly due to their songwriting. All musical aspects of their band are good, but their apparent need to have a song last longer than 5 minutes creates a sense of monotony for the listener as interesting songs falls victim to repetition. Still, Asiatic Cholera and Obviously Your Not A Golfer offer a sound that is able to overcome this feeling. With better songwriting, I could see the band becoming a force in the genre, but for now, stick to the highlights.
