Review Summary: It Dies Today have mastered the art of clichés.
9 of 13 thought this review was well writtenWhat can you say about metalcore that hasn't been said already? It's already been made clear that metal "purists" have every reason to slap a degrading sticker on the genre's unsightly face; it's already been established a hundred times over that the scene has grown laughable as a whole. We all know by now that metalcore is no longer held in the highest of regards - yet some folk frolic about while proclaiming the "inevitable metalcore revival". Why? Well, there are bands like Misery Signals and August Burns Red that seem to back up the theory that the genre isn't
completely doomed - but then again, there's also bands like It Dies Today who basically send the genre straight to it's grave. For all the valiant efforts that other slightly-more-tolerable bands have made to create
good music, It Dies Today continually remain adamant in their career-long quest to make music
bad.
Lividity is, unsurprisingly, not an exception to It Dies Today's notorious drabness: it is heavy, it is relentless and it is incredibly, incredibly boring. The record is, in a matter of terms, the perfect example of every metalcore stereotype ever thought of. It is, note for note,
exactly what detractors of the genre hold against metalcore: monotonous and frequent breakdowns, completely laughable vocal delivery (both harsh and clean) and, most importantly, a cargo freighter's worth of needless chugging. Yet with all of this in mind, it's sad to say that
Lividity embraces it's own mediocrity and wears it upon it's sleeve like a boy-scout badge; it's
proud to be a metalcore album. Never before has such confidence been so misplaced.
What can you expect from
Lividity? You can expect that newcomer Jason Wood's vocals are hardly an improvement from Nicholas Brookes' and you can expect that Chris Cappelli and Mike Hatalak's guitar talents are limited to drop-tuned palm muting and the occasional pinched harmonic. Why, you can also expect that drummer Nick Mirusso has yet to discover a cymbal other than his crash or a beat that doesn't involve a ceaseless double-bass assault. Worst of all, you can expect
Lividity to be a confused listen. On songs like 'Nihility', the band switches from All That Remains-mode to Fall Out Boy-mode without a second thought while on songs like 'Life of Uncertainty', the band seems to be more satisfied to show off their perfected Inhale Exhale impression.
Perhaps the most disappointing thing about
Lividity is that there
is one glorious moment on the record: 'Miss October' features an extended, melodic guitar solo. The musicianship is fairly technical and extremely tasteful; the entire band plays off each other. Yet the diamond-in-the-rough interlude is disappointing because it showcases that It Dies Today, at heart, aren't
completely brainless. It shows that if they tried hard enough and spent more than ten minutes writing a record, they could actually create something passable. Until that day, however, we're stuck with
Lividity and the rest of metalcore is stuck with being ridiculed for it's obvious flaws. You can thank It Dies Today later.
