Some three albums in and these German thugs still look as young as my teenage son and are still intent on beating the living crap out of you with relentless deathcore. I say still because the bands logo has changed since the last album ‘The Daily Grind’ which I enjoyed with its thrashy beats underneath a torrent of blasting groove and was a decent enough annihilation that satisfied Suicide Silence addicts with ease. However the band has retained their battering approach, lost the thrashiness and if anything become more brutal.
Once the intro finishes the chaotic bombardment of ‘Incarceration’ is a whirlwind of blast beats and slamming riffage. ‘Loner’s Reflection’ is a little less chaotic but no less ferocious as hell as the duelling growls and screams work well within deathcore’s well defined parameters. I have to admit not minding this style of vocalising as onstage it comes across as energetic and whilst some of these singers’ balls might not have dropped to the level of established death crooners like Benton, Rogga, Mullen etc it does work. The pleasantly titled ‘Cu(N)T & Twist’ is a blur of double bass blasting and hyperspeed snare work with very little in the way of subtlety. There are some nice technical aspects added to the bands onslaught, though not in the way that Dying Fetus or Necrophagist employ as the track injects the first bass bombs and slam riffs. ‘The Man Eater’ gets noticed due to the Cannibal Corpse style bass drum kick and cymbal smash before its back to toilet flushing vocal gurgling and a track that contains the first real lead work of any note.
‘Carnage Provoked’ successfully blends Parkway Drive melody with Suicide Silence brutalising as the track is monstrously heavy if a little simplistic initially. A slight break unfolds on ‘Black Night’ which was thankfully not a cover version. I debated long about the production on this album which is clean, clinical and packing a sledgehammer style beating. My conclusion was that it is a little too clean for my liking but typical of the genre overall. ‘Welcome To Our Killzone’ has some big Suffocation moments who I assume they are avid fans of as the music then angles towards Despised Icon though not as technical. I did enjoy the later songs on the album with ‘Necromantica’ having a touch of traditional death metal about it, in the vein of mid era Aborted with its rocketing bass kick. Best song is ‘I Am Sick I want To Kill’ which builds on a pulverising double bass to an inevitable blast that is downright effective and well planned when the excellent riff change is inserted also. Closing track ‘XXXIII’ surprises with a synth intro and comes across as just plain weird compared to the rest of the album especially with choral vocal line. The texture of this song is plainly different to the others with some Immolation like density on the atmosphere as the music drifts towards Abigail Williams which seems absurd but true.
As ever death metal purists will never engage with deathcore despite its obvious down tuned heaviness but for me it is a genre I enjoy both on CD and in the live environment, and seeing as I’m not bored of it yet this goes down as a solid release.
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