Review Summary: By Blood and Iron do enough to seperate themselves from most other deathcore acts, but just fall shy of reaching superiority in the genre.
By Blood and Iron are a deathcore band that sadly split up in the summer of 2009. I say sadly because this band, from their three track EP, showed immense amounts of potential, and some decent talent. But, extenuating circumstances ruined them and divided the members into other bands. But I digress...their EP was self titled, and contained the songs "Cocytus," "Feral Was Her Butchery," and "The Infernal Offering."
Here is a big heads up about this band's sound, it's all about preference. Make no mistake, most of this falls into the traditional deathcore sound, but By Blood and Iron do enough to distinguish themselves from their contemporaries. But as I said, some will be able to excuse the otherwise standard breakdowns while others will hate it. I can't blame them, but that's just the nature of things.
"Cocytus" opens up with a simple descending melody before erupting into an intense breakdown. Part of why I find them so entertaining is the vocalist, whose lows are incredibly powerful without being too muddy and the highs do an excellent job of complementing both these low grunts and the song in general. The song shifts from breakdowns, to quick solos, to faster breakdowns, to keyboards. One of the big distinguishing factors of this group are the keyboards, which help to enhance both the breakdowns and give the EP an overall atmosphere and ambient quality to the music.
"Feral Was Her Butchery" is very short, around 2:36, and really is a small tidbit before leading into the grandiose "The Infernal Offering." This song does feature the keyboards more prominently, which help keep the song from trailing away into monotany. However, the breakdown in this song has a killer intro to it and is satisfyingly heavy.
"The Infernal Offering," which is my personal favorite, starts off similar to "Cocytus" with a quick solo in the beginning before pounding ahead into a breakdown. The song continues this trend until an absolutely stunning lead solo takes place, proving these musicians do have talent. Part of the reason I love this song so much is the fact that the two prominent breakdowns in this song are, to be quite truthful, the most intense I have ever heard. Take my word, I have listened to numerous deathcore acts, and none of them come close to this. The song ends with a small keyboard and violin passage, a suitable end to this short EP.
As previously mentioned, this band is a matter of preference. Some of you will hate it and some of you won't. As you most likely have guessed from this review, breakdowns are a very common asset of this group, and that will either turn you towards or away from this music. I recommend you at least give the last song "The Infernal Offering," a listen before making up your mind completely.
