I really, REALLY don't like deathcore. I've never seen the attraction to what I think is watered down death metal with misogynistic lyrics and a giant abundance of breakdowns. The closest thing I've ever come to liking within the genre was Glass Casket and the Red Chord, and most would consider those bands more akin to metalcore than the dreaded genre mentioned at the beginning.
But at the request of many people I know, I was urged to listen to this album. People told me it was "fuckin sick" and "brutal" which will never really sway me, but when I heard the word "diverse" being thrown around, I scoffed, but was now intrigued. I was never a fan of ASP's previous material, though I didn't hate the band. They were one of the originals in this now stagnant and stale genre, and like Job for a Cowboy (another band I've never been fond of), I can't really blame them for turning the term/genre into the joke that it's become (I'd give that dubious "honor" to bands like Carnifex, Suicide Silence, and Emmure, who have nothing but plagiarize more successful bands and dumb it further to appeal to the lowest common denominator).
The first song "When Life Meant More..." kicks off with an intro that reminded me of Decapitated, which leads into an okay death metal groove. I already hear some vocals in the middle that remind me somewhat of James Hetfield. Seriously. A little cheesy, but it raised my eyebrow. Some great solos are unfortunately ruined by cutting into a rather bland breakdown. Hopefully this doesn't become a pattern here.
Everyone told me about how awesome "Black Gold Reign" was and I gotta say...they're mostly right. 2/3 of the track consists of some appreciated nods to the gothenburg scene (which about 90% of the American metal scene now owes much to), but the other third's experimentation falls flat. Their (to my knowledge) first foray into power metal sounds like a drunken, bearded guy singing 3 Inches of Blo....hey wait a minute!
The guitars in "Never...Again" are actually charmingly over the top. They also sound strikingly similar to a video game soundtrack. The same sort of groove/half breakdown returns from the first song, but without the repetitive breakdown that ruined that song's ending. Pretty solid.
We get an instrumental break next that is actually fairly refreshing, though it's a shame that it's only a minute or so long. So far, this is much more of a melodic album than I thought it would be. Most of the experimenting (if you call singing clean experimenting) isn't too grating.
The title track tries to force some Opeth influence in , and is rather commendable for their first try. But uh oh, it allllmost goes into a typical "bro chant," one of the things that I have always despised about the genre. Keep the bro chants in youth crew hardcore please. Thankfully, it's saved by another melodic chorus and catchy riff towards the end.
"Memories of a Glass Sanctuary" sounds like the band had a day off and made the decision to smoke dope and blast "Damnation" on repeat. It's a rather soft song that you could probably give to your girl, so long as the name wouldn't drive her away. Trust me, trying to make a member of the opposite sex who ISN'T a fan of aggressive music appreciate artists with names like "Napalm Death" and "Vital Remains" is a pretty big task.
"Stabbing to Purge Dissimulation" is a good reminder about why I never liked this band before. Pig squeals, monotonous, lifeless breakdowns, and a distinct lack of guitar prowess that was seen on previous songs. Bleck. I know that those who were disappointed in the album not being "heavy enough" will most likely adore this song.
"Gagged, Bound, Shelved, and Forgotten" isn't helping the stereotype of deathcore being seemingly anti-women, and it continues the bland direction of the previous track (plus bringing back those underwhelming power metal shrieks). I also couldn't help but notice the little "cyber riff" towards the beginning. It's fairly common amongst most modern "chug chug" bands like Emmure (if you can tolerate it, go listen to the beginning of "When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong" and you'll see what I mean). It just sounds like a tactic to get the kids in the pit to move, nothing more, nothing less.
I remember Guy from the Red Chord saying he found that deathcore had more in common with nu-metal than death metal, and the beginning of "Until the End" could prove him right. It isn't hard to imagine a kid with a Disturbed shirt and baggy pants getting down to this one. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a catchy song. But catchy doesn't necessarily equal good. It turns into typical territory towards the end though. At this point, I'm already yearning to turn this off and just put on Cursed-III again.
The opening riffs of "From So Far Away" actually surprisingly reminiscent of Baroness. It turns into another wank session almost immediately afterwards, though it retains some of the slow churning that it had at the beginning. It's another instrumental as well, and feels like half Malmsteen, half Mastodon.
"Misery's Introduction" is just that; an acoustic guitar/orchestral introduction to the final song on the album, "Songs for the Damned." I originally mistook this as a Soilwork cover, which would have ruled, seeing as how their knack for decent melody probably would have worked well. Alas...oh yeah the song. It's kind of underwhelming. The song more or less feels like something that should have been placed in the middle of the record, and GOD some of the lyrics are lame ("It's 2 minutes past the midnight hour and you hate my voice like sugar coated sour"). I will give props to the clean singing at the end though. I'm not big on the good cop/bad cop routine anymore, but it was rather well done.
Overall, I went into this album dreading it, and actually came out pretty surprised. This has more in common with modern melodic death metal than deathcore (minus a few tracks in the middle) and shows me that there might be some life left in the rotting carcass of this genre. Not all of these new ideas work out, but there are enough that do that warrant it from being forgettable. I think some of my friends big into European metal could find several things to like with this, as could the band's fans who are looking for them to grow. A strong 7/10.
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