Brand of Sacrifice
Lifeblood


2.5
average

Review

by counterparts24 USER (12 Reviews)
March 8th, 2021 | 20 replies


Release Date: 2021 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Putting talent on display while placing imagination on the back burner.

As with many microgenres built on a foundation of teen angst, deathcore has seen a slow and steady decline in popularity over the past 10 years. And by simply rereading the first sentence of this paragraph, it's not exactly difficult to see why this is the case. Keeping an audience hooked on your material for a very long period of time is not an easy task, and it becomes infinitely more difficult to do that when you there's not a lot of room for expansion or experimentation to begin with, or when you market your product to only one age group. And unfortunately, deathcore does both of these things. It painted itself into a corner from day one; "Hey, let's take these very specific compositional elements, limit ourselves to just two already well-established genres, and sell it to the youth!" The end result was something painfully foreseeable; a scene that exploded on impact, but fizzled out just a few years down the line, and ultimately succumbed to repetition and (more importantly) the reality that people grow the f**k up.

Music scenes, just like everything else in life, are trends. And life is a battle; you either adapt to the times, or you die out. I'll give credit where it's due, because deathcore bands have done their best to adapt, to appeal to a wider audience and get that demographic of teens and college students back in their pig squealing, blood splattered corner. But for the most part, it has been a complete and utter failure. Because if you can't change your composition, and if you can't toy around with your core sound too much without sounding like a different genre entirely, then all you can really do is refine and improve upon the sound of your instruments, up your production quality, and throw small dashes of outside influence into the mix in hopes that it will make you stand out.

Brand Of Sacrifice, suprisingly, does stand out. But on the contrary, "Lifeblood" does not. And if Brand Of Sacrifice wants to reinvigorate a music scene that's on its last legs, they're gonna have to do better than "Lifeblood."

Like many technical deathcore bands before them, Brand Of Sacrifice has raw talent in spades, but the execution is so predictable and stale that the average music listener isn't gonna make it through more than the first few tracks without surrendering to boredom. Frontman Kyle Anderson has some seriously powerful pipes, belting out ear piercing shrieks and gnarly gutteralls across the album's run time. The strings on this record are played very well, and with impeccable precision. The percussion pummels its way through each song, just as precisely as the guitars and bass, and it effectively compliments the thick, dense tones of the strings in a way that would make any deathcore fanboy drool all over their Chelsea Grin shirt.

But that's the problem. The only people that will drool over "Lifeblood" are the people still wearing Chelsea Grin shirts in 2021. Yes, Brand Of Sacrifice stands out... individually speaking. Each member of the band has incredibly high levels of skill, and you can tell that that's exactly what they're trying to show you on this album, with every vigorous growl, every intense riff, every speedy drum fill. It's just so unfortunate that a band composed of such talented beings would join forces to release such a milquetoast album. If you've listened to technical deathcore before, there is nothing on "Lifeblood" you haven't heard before, from the darkened electronic ambience and angelic choir samples to the breakdowns that gradually slow down every four measures or so, from cliched triumphant choruses to blast beats and two step verses. And despite each quality the members possess on their own, Brand Of Sacrifice plays their music so safely and by-the-numbers that those qualities are lost in a sea down-tuned chugs and vocal performances that are par for the course for almost any band of their caliber. All in all, "Lifeblood" is proof that pure expertise can only take you so far without the aid of idiosyncrasy. While Brand Of Sacrifice are undoubtedly masters of their craft, they simply refuse to think outside of the box or take risks, and their overall sound suffers as a result of this.

As the years go by, it becomes more and more apparent that deathcore as a whole is jinxed, trapped in an endless paradox of its own self. And if there's a way to break the cycle, "Lifeblood" certainly isn't offering any type of helping hand. Keep screaming into the void, deathcore. Here's to hoping that one day, you'll find your way out of this mess.



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Comments:Add a Comment 
Durrzo
March 8th 2021


3404 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

"The only people that will drool over "Lifeblood" are the people still wearing Chelsea Grin shirts in 2021"

How dare you

Review is good though. I both agree and disagree with your main points. I get the argument that at the end of the day it's still "just deathcore" but I feel like that's such a broad critique that you can slap almost any band in any genre with. I got way more enjoyment out of this than I do with most releases in the genre. But hey, it's all subjective.

TheSpirit
Emeritus
March 8th 2021


30304 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

couldn't disagree with this more but it's well written

mrdogthrow
March 8th 2021


2119 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

"The only people that will drool over "Lifeblood" are the people still wearing Chelsea Grin shirts in 2021"

fuck

Laen
March 8th 2021


885 Comments


"The only people that will drool over "Lifeblood" are the people still wearing Chelsea Grin shirts in 2021"

I feel personally attacked. Have to drop a neg rating to protect my ego now thanks.

Themaxwell23
March 8th 2021


150 Comments


So I completely disagree , I mean what do you expect from deathcore haha? This is by far some of the best deathcore I have heard recently. Can’t neg though cause it was well written.

ThyCrossAwaits
March 9th 2021


4052 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

I saw the summary and knew this was almost exactly my take, except I don’t care lololol



I think it’s fun and worth spinning more than once, which is just fine by me.

LeddSledd
March 9th 2021


7445 Comments


who tf is neg'ing this review, it's righteous

counterparts24
March 9th 2021


35 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

"what do you expect from deathcore?"



I expect bands in the scene to stop beating a dead horse and start writing more original, refreshing material instead of rehashing the same masturbatory garbage that they have been for over a decade now.

counterparts24
March 9th 2021


35 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

"who tf is neg'ing this review"



People that are still wearing Chelsea Grin shirts in 2021 apparently.

Koris
Staff Reviewer
March 9th 2021


21968 Comments


good review, although I wouldn't really consider deathcore a microgenre. More like a subgenre or fusion-genre imo

mrdogthrow
March 9th 2021


2119 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

time to find a new scene counterparts

Uzumaki
March 9th 2021


4649 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

While I did get a chuckle out of the review terming deathcore as a “microgenre”, I will say I did agree with your point here: “ Keeping an audience hooked on your material for a very long period of time is not an easy task, and it becomes infinitely more difficult to do that when you there's not a lot of room for expansion or experimentation to begin with...”

Pikazilla
March 9th 2021


31204 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

"good review, although I wouldn't really consider deathcore a microgenre."



It isn't. It's a micropenis genre.

Uzumaki
March 9th 2021


4649 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

Damn. Pika pew pews fired...

OwMySnauze
March 9th 2021


2544 Comments

Album Rating: 1.0

This review is definitely is more on par

MusicinaBox
March 9th 2021


807 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

"The only people that will drool over "Lifeblood" are the people still wearing Chelsea Grin shirts in 2021"



I just got into deathcore and am a huge fan of this. Also Chelsea Grin is super meh. Soooooo....

Pikazilla
March 9th 2021


31204 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

This is much better than suicide silence and chelsea grin.

Uzumaki
March 9th 2021


4649 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

True

mrdogthrow
March 10th 2021


2119 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

easily

ckssr1
March 11th 2021


289 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

The album art is enough to make me want to listen



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