Review Summary: It's about time this Legacy was written about.
‘Six’ is the debut EP from Atlanta death-core outfit
A Legacy Unwritten. On an ephemeral listen, ‘Six’ could easily be considered just another mediocre death-core release, eagerly joining the legions of other album within the genre that fit that category. However, this assumption would be an incorrect one, for there are some promising moments scattered throughout this 22 minute EP; moments that coalesce into an enjoyable experience overall.
There are six tracks in total on ‘Six’, including the title track ‘Six’, which is coincidentally track number; yep you guessed it – 4. There’s something really awry about that set-up. If you are going to tag along with the satanic connotations attached to the number six, and go so far as to name your album after it and have a track named ‘Six’ and ensure that only six tracks make it onto the EP, you may as well put ‘Six’ at number six. There is literally zero chance that changing that small detail is going to make you seem ‘unpredictable’, but that’s what a move like this reeks of; a half-hearted attempt to convince the listener that they are in for a surprise!
That’s what the introductory track is supposed to do - not the track list. Apparently,
A Legacy Unwritten didn’t get that memo, because minute long ‘Insight’ completely abandons the definition of its title and is quite literally an entirely useless 60-second breakdown, complimented disgustingly with the coarse growls of vocalist Jake Ferguson. Not the best way to introduce an album, especially when over-used breakdowns are generally the most common problem that the majority of metal listeners have when it comes to death-core.
Thankfully, following track ‘Transient’ barges in and establishes a true reflection of what this album is all about; a sickening, lead-heavy experience. The guitars are definitely the focus here, with pretty much everything else taking a back seat to the dual-guitar onslaught. That’s not to say that the other members don’t shine. Colin Midkiff ‘s drumming is frenzied and feral, which perfectly complements the fractured foundations laid down by the guitars. The vocalist is quite talented for music of this style. The monotonous, unrelenting drawling that permeates the majority of death-core and even death metal releases is nowhere to be found on ‘Six’. Jake varies his attack constantly, from higher pitched screams to deep, near-unintelligible thundering; he keeps it fresh and interesting. The bass guitar is, as usual, buried beneath the tumultuous assault from every other member who is lucky enough to play a loud, attention grabbing instrument. To combat that fact, there are a few breaks every now and then on this and the other tracks on the album where the bass is left to shine. These moments are brief and few, but they are worth mentioning. The only thing marring this track is the annoying static effect at the very end. I will never understand the need to add terrible, cheesy and predictable electronic effects to heavy EP’s, but if you’re into that kind of thing, then this band have catered to your desires as well.
Apart from the disappointing breakdown that makes up 90% of the intro-track, the first ‘proper’ breakdown only occurs about halfway through 3rd track ‘Approaching De-creation’. It sounds good too; it’s well placed, layered with the vocalists screams and slows down the track, changing what could’ve become an inferior version of the previous track into a unique night-time meandering through a boulder-strewn canyon, or some similar metaphoric hyperbole. In fact, breakdowns in general on this EP typically don’t exceed one per track, if that; make of that what you will in terms of listenability or preference.
The title track also features a breakdown (surprise), and although it’s not as necessary or interesting as the previous one, it allows the vocalist to delve a little deeper into his repertoire of unholy sounds and fill the track with screams, guttural growls and shouted vocal passages. The bass is also audible for a few seconds here and there which is always a plus. The closing 10 seconds or so of this track come to a close with the vocalist shouting an indistinguishable phrase which fades out slowly, and it’s hauntingly fixating and effective. Quite a surprise, but a welcome one.
There are some really interesting riffs throughout the album as well. While the general consensus being (rightly or wrongly) that most death-core bands are bland and un-inspired, the song-writing on this release is a huge plus. The riffs are fantastic most of the time, and while one guitarist is chugging, the other is laying down a nice groove over the blasts of the drummer. The production is also fantastic, unless you’re a bass guitarist. It’s crisp, yet also gloomy and
feels grimy without affecting the slash of the guitar or the tight performance from the drummer.
In the end though, this band isn’t exactly innovative, in fact, they are just solid death-core done right (mostly). Eschew the insanely annoying static at the end of tracks two and six (yes, they go back for seconds), remove the useless introduction, beef up the bass and you’d have an extremely solid death-core album. And switching track ‘Six’ to its rightful position at sixth place couldn’t hurt either.
-ScuroFantasma
. @IWillReturn, yeah it's not really past a 3, the extra .5 I have will probably wear off soon, but it's not a bad little EP.
