Starting with the intro to this EP, I didn’t quite know what to expect be because the prog label seems to encompass quite a bit in my mind. But when Cavity started I had a pretty good idea that I would enjoy this EP, and sure enough, I did.

The intro to this EP confused me deeply, especially on the first play-through. It sounded really cool and I enjoyed it, but it was definitely different. The breakdowns on this EP are pretty face-melting. Which I am not opposed to in the least.

On the whole, I really enjoyed this EP. Though it wasn’t necessarily the most innovative writing, it was done pretty well and it hit my weakness with a rhythm guitar riff going and a lead guitar melody going over it. This EP provided a good mix of melody and heavy.

I would give it an 8/10.

The post ADHARMA “SELT-TITLED” EP REVIEW appeared first on Total Deathcore.

#10: Thirteen Bled Promises – Heliopause Fleets

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Album released: 2012

Written by Nikolas Velleca.

You probably haven’t heard of Spain’s “Thirteen Bled Promises”— not in a hipster “Look how underground I am way,” but rather in the sense that they have less 5,000 likes on Facebook way. And it blows my mind. And band that the admins and writers of Total Deathcore put in their top 10 deathcore albums OF ALL TIME has less likes than some shitty meme pages on FB. So what does it say about the band then? Only that they are possibly the most criminally underrated band in the scene right now.

Let me start off by saying that this album is a fucking masterpiece. Absolutely fucking insane. Fuck. Ok, now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I’ll try and describe what makes it so good without getting too emotional or fanboy-y.

The standout element of Thirteen Bled Promises “Heliopause Fleets” is without a doubt the vocals. The vocalist has a monstrous range: blood-curdling highs, crushing mids., and don’t even get me started on the lows. The lows are fucking demonic. Literally some of the most pronounced, powerful, and flat-out lowest lows I’ve ever heard (Check out Деньги if you don’t believe me). Plus, he knows how to use them. It’s never a monotonous block, but rather a sonic playground; beautifully interwoven with highs and lows. He really knows his placement when it comes to vocals.

The guitarwork is technical without being overbearing; the drums blistering, and manage to not be repetitive (which is hard considering the amount of blasts these dudes use). This album has all the hallmarks of a brutal death/tech death album, but WITH BREAKDOWNS. This album is for all you guys that want deathcore with some substance. It is literally incomprehensible how 13BP marries tech riffs, blast drums, and the most fucking disgusting breakdowns you’ve ever heard. You think you’ve heard slow, low, breakdowns? Not yet you haven’t.

Between the insanely high production quality, the breakdowns, the vocals, and the atmosphere 13BP creates, it’s no doubt why it is in our top 10. So please, do yourself, and 13BP a favor, give them a Like, and grab their album.

#9: Make Them Suffer – Neverbloom

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Album released: 2012

Written by Juventino Romero

The merger of genres many times can be a disaster or simply not sit well with the fans. Experimentation is often seen as taboo in the music industry, even in the underground scene ,one which is home to many experimental acts. Even with these so called taboos, one band dared to explore and implement a very peculiar genre, Black Metal.

Make Them Suffer, in their first full length album establish their sound and are not holding back. They bring an interesting atmospheric element to deathcore that is seldom heard in different bands. Make Them Suffer also implements the use of piano and clean vocals provided by a female, who also plays the piano. The use of piano is heard throughout the album but it does not become overpowering. It acts almost as a contrast to the harshness of the rest of the band, and brings a soothing feeling throughout.

Neverbloom’s instrumentation is not flashy by any means, but it is coherent and maintains grooves very well, especially on the mid tempo breakdowns. Guitar playing is very simple. Mainly Consisting of tremolo picking, and some arppegios but nothing technical. If anything the guitar playing works wonders with the piano since they have a very atmospheric sound that contrasts the piano very well. In the more hardcore influenced songs, the guitars are straight to the point and sharp. No time is wasted, and their groove lends itself for some cohesive headbanging. Also the tone of the guitars is really good, it is very well balance. Although, it sometimes feels as if it’s a bit low in the mix. Nonetheless, they have a very crisp sound without doing away with the crunchiness and distortion that deathcore guitar tones are known for, definitely an interesting balance. The bass guitar is surprisingly audible throughout the album. Especially during the album opener, which is an instrumental track that sets a dare I say, “epic” atmosphere. Drums are very forceful and in my opinion almost take centre stage throughout the album. The drumming is tight, precise, and unrelenting, even during the lower paced parts and breakdowns. When it comes to speed, the drumming is demonical. The speeds reached, and accuracy is incredible, it will not disappoint one bit. I dare say the drumming in “Neverbloom” is some of the best I have heard in a while. Vocals are definitely an interesting choice, and handled appropriately. The highs are screeching and full of anxiety, much like in some black metal vocals. Low vocals get very guttural at points, it is very interesting to hear someone who can accomplish these two styles of vocals to a formidable degree. Lastly the piano and clean vocals. First of the piano, it adds a different feeling to the whole album. It adds a sense of melancholia and desperation, but with such a soft and graceful manner that can be very soothing. An important point to make is that the piano does not become dull or overbearing at any point in the album. Even with more electronic keyboard playing, reason being is because although the piano plays a very important role, it does not take centre stage. Instead it wraps around all the other instrumentation, blanketing it, if you will, with grace and beauty. At the end, we have the female clean vocals, which does not make itself present too much, nor does it sound whiny. Instead they are placed in various parts of the album, where the songs break into a more fluid and graceful moment, such as in the second song. Also, the tone of the clean vocals are soft and very feminine, contrasting with the aggression of the main vocalist.

The album holds a very special atmosphere and theme throughout. Many bands try to reach a similar style of melancholia and angst without losing their power or brutality, but come short and fail. Make Them Suffer excel in this aspect, reason why is because of the careful balance crafted giving aggression its place but also the counter part being grace and beauty its place, instead of separating the two all together. For this reason, “Neverbloom” becomes an album hard to grasp for some, but not because it is bad, but rather because of its interesting use of music styles.

Make Them Suffer’s “Neverbloom” surprised many, especially for those not familiar with their EP “Lord of Woe”. Perhaps an underdog release, but one that came out punching and making many listeners’ spine tingle with its grace. It may not be an album for everyone, but if someone is interested in listening to a band that is both heavy, and has quite a bit of black metal influence, this is for you.

#8: Veil Of Maya – [id]

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Album released: 2010

Written by Todd Hadler

I AM IN CONTROL! The vocals, the lyrical concepts, the drumming, the riffs, the breakdowns. Veil of Maya’s third full length album, [id], certainly has it all and more. [id] is Veil of Maya’s best album and one of the best deathcore albums of all time.
The album’s title and all the lyrical content on this album comes from the Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud, who came up with the id, ego and super-ego as part of the human psyche. The id is the part that deals with instinctual drives, such as wants, needs, and desires. Every song on this album contains this concept, with some songs having an additional meaning to it such as “Dark Passenger,” “The Higler,” and “Namaste.” “Dark Passenger refers to the TV show Dexter, “The Higler” is the last name of the band’s former bassist, and “Namaste” refers to the TV show Lost. Vocalist Brandon Butler is one of the most underrated vocalists in metal. He alternates well between his lows and highs, not doing too much of either.

Guitarist Marc Okubo easily outdoes himself from “The Common Man’s Collapse” by producing some of the catchiest riffs and breakdowns this genre has ever seen. He goes from the straight technical side, “Unbreakable” and “The Higler,” to the more melodic side, “Mowgli” and “Codex.” However, it is “Resistance,” where Okubo really shines. The melodic riff that opens the track is the best on the album, and the progression in this song is just beautiful. If that was not enough, the intro breakdown for “Namaste” is written in-key to the numbers from Lost. The deathcore side of this album truly shows during the three instrumental interludes as “[id],” “Martyrs,” and “Circle,” are just one minute breakdowns, but they are ones that when played live send the crowd into an absolute frenzy.

At the end of the day if this is not in your deathcore collection, you are missing out big time. I would argue to say that this is the best technical deathcore of all time. No album before or after has been able to mix the technical side and the deathcore side as well as [id] has.

#7: Suicide Silence – No Time To Bleed

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Released: 2009

Written by James O’Hagen

“No Time To Bleed” was a break-through release for Suicide Silence. Released June 30, 2009 through Century Media Records, it peaked at No. 32 on the Billboard 200, selling 14,000 copies in its first week, making it the highest charting album on our list. The group also received the “Best New Talent” award at the Revolver Golden God awards the same year. After the band released “The Cleansing” in 2007, they had a lot of expectations to live up to with their next release. The band created an album that brings the same powerful energy seen on “The Cleansing” with a slightly less sludgy, heavier tone. Mitch Luker provides an incredible vocal range that stands out amongst an onslaught of pounding blast-beats and droning guitar riffs. The texture of this album is dark, dreary, and most of all, downright evil, making it an easy number seven for our list of the top 10 deathcore LPs of all time.

Throughout the album, the listener experiences an extreme metal journey. The band masterfully organizes their tracks so that the breakdown is not the essential focus of the song, as seen on most deathcore tracks. The band instead focuses on spewing out technical guitar solos, mind-boggling drum fills, and vast, immediate tempo changes. For example, the first track, “Wake Up,” also the first single released off the album, goes from guitar solos, to blast-beats, to breakdowns seamlessly. Also, every time I hear the *DUN DUN* of the snare drum before the first “Wake up!” on the track, I can’t help but picture Luker doing his signature stomp move in succession with the snare, a beautiful image to anyone that’s ever seen the band live (RIP Mitch, one of the greatest front-men in deathcore history. Side note: The entire band has incredible stage presence). Every track on this record is a hit. The band really pushes their death metal influence on this album and it pays off. From the guitar solos on “Wasted” and “Genocide,” to the final, annihilating breakdown at the end of the final track “Disengage,” any listener of metal is going to be impressed by what they hear on this release: Angry, bone-crushing death metal, with a hint of breakdowns and extremely varying vocal textures.

 #6: And Hell Followed With – Proprioception

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Album released: 2010

Written by Max Barter

Although one of the lesser known bands amongst our top ten list here at Total Deathcore, I really am proud that Detroit MI’s And Hell Followed With made the final list, especially at a fairly high positioning at number six. An album as sacred and profound as this deserves to be heard and this is exactly why;

Earache records made a perfect decision signing AHFW, although their short time as a band they were able to put out a blistering EP, as well as Propropception – an album that smashes deathcore boundaries standing unique at it’s 2010 release. There are two things about this album that really succumb to the listener’s needs. Firstly the vocals; Nick Holland is able to provide ridiculously high pitched screams that do not sound like any other deathcore band out there at the moment. That’s not all. Nick’s vocal range is incredible, he is able to change between these sickening highs to guttural lows, as well as blaring out some rare hardcore shouts. Although 60% sticking to the high pitched shrieks, these combined elements and styles create the ultimate deathcore attributes.

The second great thing about the album is the gigantic instrumental side to things. Often hardly showcasing any deathcore sides to things apart from the occasional breakdown which comes hand in hand with the genre itself. Epic and monstrous guitar work is provided throughout, where the majority of the tracks boast slow and groovy riffs, sometimes delivering them as solos – which is a rare occasion for a deathcore act. There’s no use of distortion, or bad production quality – everything is crisp, you can hear every sinister lick from the monumental sized build-ups of destructive guitar work. Drums boast of The Black Dahlia Murder every time I blast this album – triggering blast beats roam inquisitive throughout.

Massive tracks such as “This Night Is The Coroner’s” contain everything deathcore stands for in one brutal as fuck song. The closing gang chant is precious, destined for the live scene – delivering tasty more-ish sensations that not many band’s are capable of pulling off. “Those Now Sleep Forever’ practically changes its dark and deranged tempo to a melodic closing of guilty loving, and beautifully refreshing guitar work – which then bounces into ‘From Burning Sentiments’, a personal favourite from the album again pummelling it’s listener with intense variety vocally and instrumentally constantly.

And Hell Followed With seriously though about every single idea placed into this masterpiece and they probably haven’t realised what they’re truly capable of; The things they could of progressed to after this release – nobody will ever know, but at least they’ve left us this goliath record which I know will still be one of the best releases in the genre for many years to come.

#5: Oceano – Depths

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Album released: 2009

Written by Ricky Scricca

This debut full length record from the now-titans of deathcore has made it on the list simply because it goes beyond heavy. It’s just as atmospherically foreboding as it is straightforwardly brutal, and with Adam Warren’s trademark shrieks and gutturals, Oceano’s sound on this record is about as intense as anything.

I remember first hearing “District of Misery,” and just being totally taken aback by the lengths to which the band went in order to create the heaviest deathcore possible. Coming from the grindier, more hardcore-rooted demo, Depths blew listeners away by incorporating slower tempos and ambient instrumental passages. For instance, “District of Misery” can go from thrash beats and chugs into a melody on a moment’s notice. Tracks like “A Mandatory Sacrifice” might not be overly dynamic, but driving grooves and occasional tempo changes make it a real beast. And like “Samael the Destroyer,” a slowed-down outro further demonstrates the band’s tendency to go beyond their fast, chaotic roots.

Another interesting, influential characteristic of Oceano’s music is the back-breaking drumming. Sometimes it’s so punishing and so slick and well done, that it can almost takes the place of guitar riffage (see the fills and rests throughout the opening of “District of Misery”). Danny Terchin’s crazy fills and blastbeats hearken directly to Alexandre Pelletier’s work on Despised Icon’s discography, and his grooves drive brutal atmospheres complemented by Devin Shidaker’s signature guitarwork.
Overall, Depths is on this list not only because it’s one of the heaviest deathcore albums out there (especially at the time), but also because it goes beyond just breakdowns and thrash beats. It’s fast and chaotic about as often as it is slow and crushing, and rhythmic about as often as it is melodic.

#4: Whitechapel – This Is Exile

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Album released: 2008

Written by Joe Raposa

The best live song I’ve ever seen performed (and mind you, I’ve seen well over 100 bands, including Lamb of God, Veil of Maya, Anthrax, iwrestledabearonce, etc.) was the track “Possession” last year at the Mayhem Festival in Hartford CT. The second Whitechapel took the stage, a literal shitstorm descended upon the crowd as Phil Bozeman just looked out at us, not having to say anything, just standing there while the whirlpool of humanity was drenched by rain and rattled by the cracks of thunder. And then the song started, and the entire crowd left the ground at the same time, as if we were all hoping to get struck by lightning, as it was the only way it could have gotten any more brutal!

Anyways, “This is Exile” comes in at #4 on Total Deathcore’s “Top 10 Deathcore Album’s List.” It is to me at least, the album established Whitechapel as a big time player in the deathcore and heavy metal scene. With its face melting riffs, to its bounce-house breakdowns, to the raw brutality of Bozeman’s vocals, “This is Exile” stands as a gold standard album in the deathcore genre. Not to mention, it starts brutally with the trio of “Father of Lies,” “This is Exile,” and “Possession,” and ends just as brutally with the windmill happy track “Messiahbolical.” I don’t know what else I could possibly say about “This is Exile,” it’s just an amazing album, and it deserves it spot in the Top 10.

#3: Infant Annihilator – The Palpable Leprosy Of Pollution

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Album released: 2012

Written by George Gray

Infant Annihilator, In the words of ‘The Joker’,
“Here…..we…..go!” (The Dark Knight, 2009)

This is the album that has come to crush all that stand before it, and that is, exactly what it has done.
‘The Palpable Leprosy Of Pollution’ is a 16 track giant slayer by a trio of blokes, two from England, another from the States, and boy, do they fit each other’s grooves.

This is the thing though, where the absolute shit did they come from?

Well, Aaron Kitcher and Eddie Pickard are behind the instrumental side of things, taking care of the giant order of Bass, Drums, and Guitars, all tracked perfectly.

While Dan Watson is based in the states, his vocals are a new breed of death spun super chords that send the souls of the listeners into fibrillation, since then, it has been all systems go for this new race of deathcore super heavy weights.

The great thing about Infant Annihilator is that they aren’t pushing anything that they are not, sure they name most of their songs super brutal spins of everything that is both the Catholic church and ‘A Serbian film’ but who cares, they are known as an internet band and an internet band is exactly what they are, with a sole purpose of being the most brutal collaboration of atomic drops and mind splitting vocals that the world over can come together and enjoy the beauty.

Another neat thing is that there is always some kind of side project or new song in place, be it ‘Black Tongue’ or the history of ‘Mister Sister Fister’ there is always something awesome in the works with these dudes that proves their drive for making music is just relentless.

Infant Annihilator, your overwhelmingly generous 16 track album ‘The Palpable Leprosy Of Pollution’ has earned you the spot of 3rd on our top 10 deathcore albums of all time.

Congratulations!

By the way, my personal favorite track from the album is ‘Embryonic Fetish’. Nothing hits harder than those awesome solos and added guest vocals from Alex Teyen, just awesome.

#2: Suicide Silence – The Cleansing

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Album released: 2007

Written by Zack Boyan

There’s a reason The Cleansing is one of the best-selling debut albums released on Century Media – not because it’s easily accessible to the radio-rock listener, but because of the absolute ferocity which is contained in its 41 minutes. The Cleansing is an unrelenting onslaught of pure chaos, from the constant blast beats and angry high screams of “Unanswered” to the incredibly memorable and slightly groovy “Destruction of a Statue”.

When I first heard The Cleansing, I was absolutely blown away. I had never imagined that such raw emotion and adrenaline could be contained in music, and I still haven’t found a song that can match the intensity of “Unanswered”. Clicking on the music video on YouTube is still one of the defining moments in my metal journey. As someone who had never experienced something like this – and was Christian, I was completely horrified when I heard Mitch belt out “Where is your God? Where is your God? Where is your fucking God?” I was also completely mesmerized, and I am very glad I stayed for the rest of the song.

The Cleansing is a great album simply based on the amount of songs that remained in Suicide Silence’s set list before Mitch passed (RIP). “Unanswered”, “No Pity for a Coward” and “Bludgeoned to Death” were rightfully some of the most anticipated songs at any Suicide Silence show. Aside from the hits, The Cleansing contains a few of my more underrated favorites, namely “Green Monster” and “Destruction of a Statue”. The musical abilities of the members might not have yet reached their peak, but the song writing is impeccable and the emotion absolutely real. The Cleansing is one of deathcore’s defining albums and a must-have album in any collection.

#1: Whitechapel – The Somatic Defilement

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Album released: 2007

Written by Matt Eyles

When you think deathcore, you think Whitechapel. This is a band that need no introduction, arguably being one of the biggest deathcore names out there – releasing 4 full length albums, one EP and a remaster of what Total Deathcore thinks is the best deathcore album ever made – The Somatic Defilement.

Released in 2007 to massive critical acclaim, and being the band’s first release, the band took their lyrical and name influence from the heinous crimes of London serial killer Jack The Ripper, with their songs containing acts of extreme violence, torture and rape. In turn, this influence and unique story quickly made them one of the most well known deathcore bands, exploding across America and then into Europe, playing with the biggest metal names in the world. In 2007, they signed to Metal Blade Records and released their second album, This Is Exile – an album that takes #4 spot on our list.

The Somatic Defilement begins with a crackling audio recording of another serial killer, Jeffery Dahmer, talking about controlling a person and torturing them – a very fitting intro for the premise of the album. It then explodes into Bozeman’s signature deep guttural growls, ear-whipping blast beats and thumping double bass, and Whitechapel’s special blend of skull-crushing, face-melting chugging riffs. This is an album that takes itself seriously, and continuously goes harder than a motherfucker on cocaine. Not one track in the album sounds the same or induces deathcorey deja vu, with each track having it’s own ridiculously brutal sound, crammed with breakdowns that have become fan favourites in the pits, and growls so deep they could tear tectonic plates apart. Bozeman has a really unique and distinguishable sound, that is like no other vocalist on the scene. He is able to do vein popping high screams that perfectly fit the serial killer motive, but is also able to do those gorgeous growls.

Whitechapel’s creativity with guitar tones, sound effects, mastering and vocal layering knows no bounds on this album. One of their signature things to do is to layer high screams over low growls, a technique that many new deathcore bands have taken and used in their sound, but none ever as good as WC. My favourite track on the album, and personal favourite deathcore song of all time, is Prostatic Fluid Asphyxiation. This song is just sublime. It contains all of the elements that make WC one of the kings of deathcore, such as blisteringly fast screeching guitar melodies, a consistent and reverberating double bass, ridiculously low and demonic gutturals, and best of all, a breakdown that has a bigger blast radius than the bomb that hit Hiroshima.
The Somatic Defilement is a must have for absolutely any deathcore fan, and a must listen for any metal fan, being a perfect presentation of everything deathcore has achieved, and can achieve.
A true classic, and one to be remembered for decades.

In early 2013 the band released a re-mixed/re-mastered version of the album, you can listen HERE, buy HERE, and view the updated album art HERE.

The post Total Deathcore’s Top 10 Deathcore Albums appeared first on Total Deathcore.

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Somerset based metalcore outlet Awaken The Silence are rapidly making a huge name for themselves in the south west of the UK, and have just released their stunning new EP, ‘Obstinance’. Combining elements from deathcore and metalcore, and taking influence from bands like The Devil Wears Prada, Memphis May Fire and Bleed From Within, ATS have a very unique sound that makes this latest release stand out from the rest.

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Beginning with the aptly-named track Harvey Djent (yeah, you read that right), this EP wastes no time in pounding the listener’s ears with tremolo picked riffs and small melodies. It’s rare that high screams, shouts, gang vocals, cleans and growls are used all on one EP or album, but ATS do this extremely well. The growls are guttural and really powerful, and used at exactly the right time in comparison to the other types of vocals. Shouts are used a lot on this EP,and to great effect. Theses are provided by Joshua Longworth and Ali Fewell, and they are very distinctive compared to other generic shout vocals. Gang vocals are also used excellently, with one stellar example being the part in Harvey Djent: ‘They call you Harvey Dent…because you’re a two faced fucking cunt!’. Can’t get better than that!

Plague Doctor is the second track on this EP, and begins a little more calmer than the previous, with a downtempo guitar intro, but then as always soon develops into ATS’s signature thrashing sound, combining wailing shout vocals and brutal growls being layered over sweeping guitar melodies and harmonies, provided by Samuel Martin and Ali Fewell, and at no point in this EP does the guitar work get boring or repetitive. Each track has it’s own distinctive sound, riffs and progressions, and each track is recognisable from the off. Drum work on this EP is also fantastic, provided by Josh Beattie, always giving the guitars, bass and vocals a solid backbone to work from, and giving some of the signature riffs on the EP a thumping sound. The tracks constantly feel very full and solid, and no doubt this is the supreme work of bassist Henry Stone, never letting any track feel hollow or unfullfilled.

The third track, and my personal favourite, and the title track, is Obstinance. This track is a an absolutely perfect showcase of Awaken The Silence’s talent and creativity, combining elements from multiple genres and never once sounding repetitive and boring. The intro riff is so heavy, involving a tremolo picked, downtuned thrash riff that opens the song perfectly. The clean chorus vocals on this track are amazing, and mastered extremely well, and again a great example of the different vocal styles ATS can employ. The final number, Set In Stone, has a more melodic sound than the previous tracks, using clean vocals more. However, the gutturals are still used to great effect, as well as the shouts. I absolutely adore the cleans on this EP. It’s also worth noting that ATS use both breakdowns and solos, and don’t overuse either one, unlike many
other metalcore bands.

This band have made me extremely proud to be from Somerset, and absolutely blown me and others away with the excellent production values, musical talent, and unhinged creativity they have displayed on this EP. Well done guys, one of the best.

Rating: 10/10

The post AWAKEN THE SILENCE “OBSTINANCE” EP REVIEW appeared first on Total Deathcore.

“BALTIC SEA BRUTALITY!” If you’re familiar with Acranius‘ debut EP ‘The Echo Of Her Cracking Chest‘ then perhaps you’ll recall this gang-chant, which is cleverly re-mastered in the second half of this album. New vocalist Tomm has stepped in, leaving previous singer Bjorn on guitar – A great choice because Tomm’s pummelling vocals are definitely a step up, especially within production values.

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The first six tracks of this record contain new tracks of brutal, bitter non-stop death metal at it’s most extreme possibilities. Still blasting out the brutal slamming riffs as well as a new take on things with new their new vocalist. The first obvious difference from this material you will notice is the amazing production. Compared to their EP, this is top-notch stuff, leaving the EP’s poor standards lower than atlantis. So it’s fucking awesome that Acranius decided to re-master them because now they sound epic, and heavier than anything else at the moment. These re-mastered tracks are the final six tracks on the album, well worth the wait after the first half of the record.

After a short anger fulled intro-like track, ‘Lifesustainment To Continue Mutilation‘ blasts out. This is the band’s first music video and there’s no denying how much hatred and rage has an input in the track. If you haven’t yet seen the video then you must be awing in anticipation towards the excitement my words bring to you. There are monstrous breakdowns, stupidly slow slam riffs, guttural roars – topped off with stunning production, I don’t see how the genre can improve from here.

Rating: 9/10

The post ACRANIUS “WHEN MUTILATION BECOMES HOMICIDAL” ALBUM REVIEW appeared first on Total Deathcore.

Genre: Progressive/ Metalcore
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Album Year: 2013
Facebook: Here

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‘Loup Garou’ is the new single from 5-piece Metalcore band ‘Deadweight’. The track possesses an old school August Burns Red vibe with obvious elements of progression seen by the likes of Between The Buried And Me.

The underlying riffs played throughout the song, as well the use of polyrhythms and the occasional ambience,  give an insight into the technical ability of this band whilst also showcasing an eagerness to move the Metal genre forward. The track also contains a few breakdowns which come in at the right times throughout the track and hit hard.  

Although it sometimes falls short in terms of production quality which makes it sound pretty messy occasionally, Deadweight have produced a solid track overall. These guys could potentially be a force to be reckoned with in the near future.

For fans of: August Burns Red, Apostate, Veil Of Maya, Born Of Osiris, Within The Ruins, Wretched

Rating: 8.5/10

The post DEADWEIGHT “LOUP-GAROU” SINGLE REVIEW appeared first on Total Deathcore.

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Trunk’s clean vocals are incredibly dreamy and provoking, but some of his screaming needs some work.  The mids and lows are fine, but his highs are lacking in clarity.  He already has an incredible range with his voice, so it’s not that big of a let down.  The guitar work is clean and fast, echoing riffs seen by bands such as Between the Buried and Me or Animals As Leaders, jumping from vibrant, harsh tremolo picking, into beautiful solos and acoustic guitar chords.  The fourth track is an acoustic one, a necessary element for most metal albums to break up the intense drums and deep guitar tones.

The explorative sound that Trunks creates is both soft and explosive at the same time.  Although there is a good amount of time throughout the albums duration that contains soft melodies and acoustic guitar, its sections that contain metal elements are that much more impressive and prominent to the listener.  This contrast creates a dynamic mood that brings the listener down a lazy river of metal mastery.  The tracks pick you up and gently lay you down at the albums end.

There are plenty of guitar solos, impressive drum fills, blistering bass lines and voluptuous melodies to be heard on this album.  If you’re looking for an album that fits a quintessential progressive metal mold, look no further than Ghost of Echoes.  The groovy mix of contemporary progressive metal, death metal, folk, and pop music will tickle the fancies of your eardrums for days on end.

For fans of: Between the Buried and Me, Opeth, Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater, The HAARP Machine

Rating: 8/10

The post GHOST OF ECHOES “SELF TITLED” REVIEW appeared first on Total Deathcore.

Tracklist:
1. Raised by Wolves
2. Nightmares (ft. Sam Gitiban of Novallo)
3. Entr’acte
4. Buried Secret (ft. Jordan Ibarra of Aristeia)

Tsaars is a young band all the way from Ukraine with a hard to pronounce name. Seriously, I cannot tell if the T is silent or not. Anyway, my English aside, Tsaars is a very talented band. Their music is a cross between The Dillinger Escape Plan and Glass Cloud with a little bit of Periphery in there. The closest resemblance would be Glass Cloud, as they mix screaming vocals and clean vocals with a mathcore instrumentation.

The EP is a short one, with four songs and one of them being a one minute instrumental. The band just hits like a truck. The Dillinger Escape Plan resemblance is from the Calculating Infinity album where it is straight mind-bending mathcore. The difference is that they add a bunch of melody to accompany it. Tsaars does a fantastic job of integrating these two styles into one. Actually, it is three styles into one as their are playing on 8-stringed guitars, so that would be the Periphery influence. So the band also has this djent style of playing and it blends incredibly.

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The instrumentation on this album is fantastic. The drumming is insanely complex and it really brings out the mathcore on the album. The guitarists are very talented at what they do, going from psychotic mathcore to melodic passages where they have a chance to stand alone. We have seen bands before have these background melodies so it technically is not something new. It is still an awesome contrast to have these beautiful sounding melodies among the chaos.

If there were one part of this band that could use some work, it is the vocals. The highs are more of a shouting style, kinda similar to Adrian Fitipaldes of Northlane, but not nearly as good. It sounds like the vocalist is really straining himself when he does the highs. I guess it kinda works with the music behind him but still the highs are not all that pleasant. The clean vocals are very hit or miss. In some instances, the clean vocals hit the mark and they sound great. Other times, they sound very awkward and poorly placed on the album. The one consistently good thing about the vocals is the lows, as well as Jordan Ibarra of Aristeia’s guest vocal spot on “Buried Secret.”

All in all, this is a fantastic EP with very little negatives. The only things I can point out is some of the vocals and the fact that all three songs follow the same formula, mathcore with melody. The thing is though, that this formula works and is very fresh to listen to.

Rating: 9/10

The post TSAARS “FOREWORD” EP REVIEW appeared first on Total Deathcore.

Tracklist:
1. Malignant Coronation
2. Ghoul
3. Possessed
4. Lord of Swords
5. Helvete
6. Mouth of Madness
7. Unholy Paragon
8. Sacrifice (Bathory Cover)
9. Morbid Lust

Bonus:
1. Primeval Fear (Live)
2. Daemons Journey (Live)
3. Beyond the Grave (Live)
4. The Gate of Nanna (Live)

 The packaging of Tsjuder’s Desert Northern Hell reissue describes it as “An essential masterpiece for all fans of True Norwegian Black Metal”. Few albums manage to live up to that kind of hype, but Desert Northern Hell succeeds in almost every way. Every moment of Desert Northern Hell embodies straightforward, stripped-down, “true” black metal. As with black metal’s founding bands, Tsjuder delivers punishing, cold, black metal with a hint of thrash and punk influence. Tsjuder was formed a single year after Darkthrone released their now-legendary  A Blaze in the Northern Sky, and writes music in a similar style.

Tsjuder’s “No synthesizers, no female vocals, no fucking compromises” approach to the genre may not be new or original, but the writing is really good and doesn’t get repetitive. Drauglin’s guitar work is excellent in both writing and performance. The riffs vary between the standard black metal shredding, slower punk-esque grooves, and blistering tremolo-picked thrash assaults. There are a few sweeps aside from the standard alternate picking and tremolo picking during solos and faster parts, which might surprise people who generally associate sweep picking with technical death metal. While infrequent, Drauglin brings out some excellent Slayer-style solos that would put most guitarists to shame. He also wrote a few excellent evil-sounding slow parts scattered throughout the album, mostly on the 11-minute epic that is “Morbid Lust”. Nag’s vocal work consists solely of forced-sounding black metal shrieks, which are pretty standard for the genre. Draughlin does some occasional backing vocals in a similar style. Nag has little to no range, which helps his voice blend better with the music and not take away from the other instruments. His bass work is also quite good, if you can pick it out. Drums are performed by Anti-Christian, and his blasts and fills match up perfectly with the tempo of each song. His drumming is pretty amazing, especially for how natural it sounds.

Black metal immediately brings one thing to mind for most people: horrible production. Desert Northern Hell is not one of those albums. The production sounds very natural without losing the precision of a studio recording. The bass is a bit too low, but every other instrument is mixed incredibly well. The vocals aren’t too high in the mix, which was the right choice. As a result, the instruments blend together very well and it feels like the band is playing live and taking cues from each other.

Since this is the review of the Desert Northern Hell reissue, it is important to mention the extras. Four live tracks are included on the CD, although unfortunately none of them are from this album since it was recorded live in 2001. If Desert Northern Hell is your first Tsjuder album, they probably won’t matter much. The real bonus is the live DVD. It includes two performances from 2005, where Tsjuder plays a large number of tracks from this album. “Helvete”, “Unholy Paragon”, “Ghoul”, “Mouth of Madness”, “Sacrifice”, “Morbid Lust” and “Malignant Coronation” all make appearances. Tsjuder plays nearly perfect live, and Nag rarely falters in his very difficult-sounding vocals.

Desert Northern Hell is one of the best black metal albums I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing. This is not slow, thought-provoking black metal, but rather the kind that will blow your mind for 50 minutes. If you’re just starting to listen to black metal, it’s an excellent primer in what defines the genre before you delve into the more experimental types of black metal. Desert Northern Hell is perhaps the pinnacle of Tsjuder’s career and still one of the best traditional black metal albums in recent memory.

Rating: 9/10

The post TSJUDER “DESERT NORTHERN HELL” ALBUM REVIEW appeared first on Total Deathcore.

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Probably the most distinctive characteristic of this record is that TDEP tends more often than usual to juxtapose dissonance and melody within the same tracks, rather than setting songs aside for slower escapades, as on previous efforts. For instance, “Paranoia Shields” starts with a few simple chords, then shifts into some creepy, quiet melody; then into a relatively chaotic chorus that reappears shortly afterwards. The song’s structure is already dissonant in itself, but it really threw me for a loop when the entire thing suddenly 180′d into a soft buildup into a simple hard rock chord progression. I typically love Dillinger’s trademark unpredictability, but this track was maybe a little too hard to follow. On “Magic That I Held You Prisoner,” however, they execute this juxtaposition much more effectively, by scattering the dissonance and jolting rhythms throughout even the simpler passages, allowing the choruses’ melody to shine through in comparison. “Understanding Decay” is my favorite track, and offers a similar effect by scattering melody in the dissonant passages, rather than vice versa, excellently complementing Puciato’s vocal style. A calm passage abruptly broken up by absolutely explosive screaming finishes the song off emphatically, but somewhat impractically.

Aside from those tracks that fuse both of Dillinger’s most key styles, songs like “Crossburner” and the title track are almost entirely simple from start to finish, and have excellent structure that for the most part displays a smooth, gradual crescendo-ing of intensity, albeit with a few bumps along the way. The title track’s jazziness took me back to classics like “Mouth of Ghosts,” or even further back, “Weekend Sex Change” (but that might be a bit of a stretch). It’s certainly more coherent than “Crossburner,” as it appropriately avoids dissonance, and climaxes in a way that both makes sense and isn’t too predictable.

“Prancer,” “When I Lost My Bet,” and  ”Hero of the Soviet Union” are arguably the three heaviest, and most spastic on the LP. They represent classic Dillinger shining through, and are probably most comparable to the general sound of Miss Machine in the sense that they showcase their roots in absurdly experimental music through catchy hooks and back-breaking instrumental seizures. These tracks are full of impeccably transitioned dynamics and unexpected treats consisting of the odd time signatures, tempo changes, and rapid-fire runs for which TDEP has become so renowned. “Nothing’s Funny” is additionally a great example of their smart inclination for positioning slow melody against abrasiveness, even though it sometimes ends up breaking up an atmosphere.

All in all, I’d say this LP is the most logical progression from Miss Machine, which would make sense, as this one’s their first album written with a solid, consistent lineup since MM (correct me if I’m wrong there). The band is firing on all cylinders from start to finish, but sometimes the structural patterns get a tad too eccentric and fall flat. But for the most part, the raw chaos is enthralling, and the more polished experimentation totally compelling. Greg Puciato’s choruses are beautiful as always, and Billy Rymer’s drumming is just plain unholy. I can’t rave enough about the guitarwork either. One of Us is the Killer is living proof that the gentlemen in The Dillinger Escape Plan will always have some incredible tricks up their sleeves.

Rating: 9/10

The post THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN “ONE OF US IS THE KILLER” REVIEW appeared first on Total Deathcore.

Absolution is a very interesting song.  The band puts together a pretty diverse, yet at times convoluting texture.  It’s hard to figure out everything that’s going on throughout the track.  The vocal layering really brings away from the impressive instrumental aspects of the song, especially at the point where they layer two different screams, a clean vocal part, and a final melodic clean on top of the entire thing.

The drums and guitars are all very well done and well executed.  The drummer adds really interesting fills to break up the boring deathcore texture of the guitars, while the guitars also do the same to break up the boring parts of the drumming.  Unfortunately, apart from the ending section and maybe one other section before the two vocalists go on a terrible fast passed vocal display, the vocals were really hard to listen to.  They were just horribly executed and sounded off time at some parts.  Also, as I mentioned before, the vocal layering I feel also took away from the song greatly.

For fans of: As I Lay Dying, Volumes, Texas in July, System of a Down, Sirens and Sailors, Six Feet of Silence

Rating: 5/10

The post OUR LAST SUNRISE “ABSOLUTION” SINGLE REVIEW appeared first on Total Deathcore.