Proclamation - Nether Tombs of Abaddon (2012) Review

The final album by the Spanish war metal horde didn't diverge even to the slightest from delivering exactly what was expected, and exactly at the same manner: bestial chaos in reverb and echo. As daring this style inherently is, Proclamation had decide to fully compromise to its definition parameters with a record that sounded like their previous works, sounded like well-known war metal, focused on efficient simplicity and primitive aggression you already know of. 

It's hard to tell tracks apart, as they all move at the same fast-tempos and feature a thick, noisy production that turns the guitars into a layered sound rather than a more noticeable aspect. The few riffs and solos that one can notice are great, yet the overall frantic attitude of the record is executed well, but repeated to exhaustion not just by Proclamation, but by the whole of this genre. A ten-track runtime feels a bit tedious, it relies too heavily on washed-out reverb and sits well as a product of a stale, yet clear-cut formula. Fans of black / death metal are right to worship this band, especially as one of the voices of its more recent status and rebirth 15 years after the classics of the '90s, but that's about it. Combined with the never-failing, red-and-white blasphemous cover art, the purposeful murk and raw noise in visuals and music, Proclamation made just another standard war metal album, before breaking up a year later. Being active for a decade (2003 to 2013), the band was infamous in the '00s inside that niche's circles, and the record proves why. 

It works like a charm, given that you already are a fan and have the appetite for this specific sound. I wouldn't be able to say which Proclamation album I prefer even if my life depended on it, and despite their shortcomings whenever I listen to them again, I somehow always suggest them around for a listen. A mediocre yet acceptable blast of underground chaos.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 

All Shall Perish - The Price of Existence (2006) Review

As the band celebrates the 20th anniversary of this album with a 30-day tour and the release of a remastered version, coupled with the roll we have going on here with related posts, it is high time we discussed one of the foundational deathcore releases, and undoubtedly one of the best. I don't think I'm mistaken, but All Shall Perish's live shows around 2005–2006 were among the first instances in which the genre term itself was even being uttered, alongside Despised Icon's "Montreal deathcore" tag. On The Price of Existence, however, the band's aerobatics reached high enough to gaze over into the neighboring territory of death metal. 

Not many people picked up on these guys when they released their first album, Hate, Malice, Revenge (2003), on Amputated Vein Records, but someone at Nuclear Blast recognised the potential, re-released the record two years later, and set the stage for a follow-up that would eventually leap several bounds ahead of the already entertaining early material. Not to say I don't enjoy the debut too; I think that, for a long time, I would think of this band instead of Lamb of God whenever I heard the track title "Laid to Rest". 

As a matter of fact, though, The Price of Existence was a significant step forward in every respect, both for All Shall Perish and for the scene they helped kick-start. The production had improved considerably, while interesting themes of social criticism, the deconstruction of modern pseudo-values and ecological concerns were backed by freshly forged, heavy beats beneath the raw mixture of hardcore breakdowns and death metal-inspired riffing. Meanwhile, Eddie Hermida's voice is at its absolute peak on this album, a peak that has never been topped since. I don't think his performances with Suicide Silence match the monstrosity he achieved on The Price of Existence, and I sometimes secretly wish he had stayed with All Shall Perish all along.

The record begins with two of deathcore's greatest tracks ever, "Eradication" and "Wage Slaves", both of which belong on any list of the genre's most influential or groundbreaking songs from its formative era. The songwriting embraces a duality of brutal force and tremolo-picked melodic passages, reminiscent of At the Gates and occasionally bordering on Cryptopsy, rather than relying on the standard deathcore formula of groove and breakdown-heavy momentum. This instantly clicked with me back then and still hasn't worn out to this day. 

Hefty guitar lines parade through "The Day of Justice" and the yet another classic "There Is No Business to Be Done on a Dead Planet", both excellent pieces through which to explore the album's thematic concerns as well. All Shall Perish reveal a more reflective compositional palette on "Better Living Through Catastrophe", whose introduction vaguely reminded me of As I Lay Dying's "I Never Wanted", before moving into the breakdown-driven "Prisoner of War" and the clean-guitar instrumental "Greyson". The band returns to demolition mode on "We Hold These Truths", followed by the pure brute force of the magnitude-10 "The True Beast"—that opening pig squeal alone is menacing.

The Price of Existence contains countless signs that it was ahead of its time, with so many structural patterns, sonic choices and tempo alterations that would later be overused throughout modern deathcore. This goes a long way toward explaining why All Shall Perish will forever remain one of the style's undeniable overlords. The album slows down on "Promises" before broadening the scope of its sound on the final and longest piece, "The Last Relapse", which incorporates acoustic guitar and symphonic passages and brings this epic listen to its conclusion.

Twenty years later, the album's impact is arguably easier to recognize than ever. What once sounded like an unusually ambitious strain of deathcore has become a subconscious standard for many newer artists, even if they don't realize it. Yet The Price of Existence still possesses something I'm struggling to find in its descendants, the idea of authentic personality. It remains one of those rare records that can simultaneously represent a scene's formative years and transcend the limitations of its era. For me, that is precisely why returning to it after all these years still feels worthwhile.

The blood of tortured souls stains me
i can't bear it
we must see where this lies leading
then we'll listen, then we'll listen to
a cry from earth for changes 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Chelsea Grin - Eternal Nightmare (2018) Review

I remember very distinctly hearing "Crewcabanger" from Chelsea Grin's self titled EP in 2008, and the excitement surrounding the announcement of their debut full-length, Desolation of Eden, in 2010. Between those releases, there was a lot of discussion when that album would finally arrive and what shape it would take, as fans had little more than a short EP to obsess over. The band's reputation had already outgrown the modest runtime of its available material. A similar case was that of Thy Art Is Murder during the gap from Infinite Death EP (2008) and The Adversary (2010), though that is a story for another time. 

Desolation of Eden is still widely regarded as one of deathcore's landmark releases, perhaps alongside My Damnation (2011). Personally, however, nothing ever matched how it felt during those first years. I never fully absorbed the albums that followed throughout the mid-2010s, and, in fact, did not return to Chelsea Grin until the release of Suffer in Heaven / Suffer in Hell double album in 2022. This encouraged me to work backwards through the now grown discography of the band, making my first stop 2018's Eternal Nightmare, second release under Rise Records and the first to feature a new version of the band.

Structural changes had Chelsea Grin slim down to a quintet, with Stephen Rutishauser taking full control of the guitar sector, while longtime vocalist Alex Koehler had been replaced by Tom Barber, who had arrived fresh after leaving Lorna Shore. Barber delivers a commendable performance throughout Eternal Nightmare, including a thankfully selective usage of the famous "blegh", effective as it always is. However, the issue for me lies in the songwriting. Nearly every track leans heavily on the familiar, paint-by-numbers deathcore conventions that don't develop naturally, but instead feel like a sequence of disconnected ideas based on how we know the genre sounds like.

Interestingly enough, I would not describe the album as repetitive though, on the contrary to more popular outlets out there. The problem is more that different sections struggle to become memorable. The heaviness is certainly there, as is the expected polished production, but what feels absent is the distinctive personality of Chelsea Grin as it was built in their earlier work, particulary up to the first half of the 2010s. Tracks such as "Across the Earth" —despite its elegant piano introduction—, "9:30am", and "Limbs" leave surprisingly little despite their impact at face value. Likewise, "Scent of Evil" proceeds in a mild mid-tempo that ultimately comes across like a filler, and "Hostage" is based entirely on a single prog / djenty stop-start breakdown melody (love-it-or-hate-it).

Eternal Nightmare opens with its stronger material, at the introductory sample and the notable "Dead Rose", while "The Wolf" is one of my favorites due to its mechanical tempo and heaviness. Fourth number "See You Soon" has one of the album best riff grooves, although it is somewhat brought down by the track's sloppy pacing later. Barber's delivery shines, and some of the record's strongest moments arrive at the significantly slower breakdowns of "Nobody Listened" and "Outliers", foreshadowing the direction deathcore had took with the employment of this vital element of the genre. At the end, chanting "welcome to your eternal nightmare" remains another highlight of the album.

The professionalism is in place here in terms of presentation and assembly, designed to satisfy the genre's audience, and admittedly, anyone looking for an addition to their gym playlist. It's packed with enough hooks to keep deathcore fans engaged, but for me, there is a certain fluctuation of the songwriting level that affects the outcome in a way that I can eventually not fully roll with. If this style or Chelsea Grin is your natural habitat, I bet Eternal Nightmare is a great record, and you'll enjoy it more than me.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Oceano - Ascendants (2015) Review

Both Oceano and deathcore had entered a transitional phase around the time Ascendants was released, one that, for the band at least, was necessary after the release of the weaker Incisions in 2013. As increasingly polished production and cinematic orchestration was slowly entering the genre, the Chicago outfit has always tried to stand behind the same formula of testo-chug: lay down a set of monotonous, simple riffs and let Adam Warren sound like the apocalypse. 

I'm a big fan and own both Depths (2009) and Contagion (2010), with the former having achieved landmark status within the genre, and the later having several enjoyable tracks nonetheless. I've personally even had a blast with Incisions despite the colder response from the press ("Slave of Corporotocracy" and "Blasphemous Mask" are really great). But who are we kidding, we're talking about a band wholly hated by the non-core metal community. Another reason to listen to them.

Thus, at that point of the scene's transition and the experimentation with prog or melodic ambitions by flagship or smaller bands, Oceano slightly re-directed their hammers without altering anything essential. Ascendants remains unmistakably their own in terms of sound, but the concept moves to the extraterrestrial and a light sense of atmosphere is introduced, if that's even possible for this particular outfit. The first hint is given from the spectacular artwork by Dusty Peterson, as the record still relies heavily on dropped-down groove, exposed heavy riffs and above all, its leading vocalist.

Opening piece "Nephilim" begins with a fast-paced, black metal-esque introduction followed by a bare one note breakdown section, and the first indications of a more expanded sense of melody come with the clean guitar motifs behind the distortion on "Transient Gateways" and "The World Engine", which are both otherwise quite straightforward, as is the whole of Ascendants. The production offers as much sonic space as possible for the guitar lines to sound colossal, always keeping Warren in the forefront.

In my view, few vocalists in deathcore can pull off the combination of sparse high-pitched screams with growls that often drop to unfathomable gutturals (exactly where he sounds best for me), as well as this guy, as he alone has preserved my interest for this band even at times of listening to a lot more "perplexed" underground death metal. The first track that truly stuck out for me on the record was "Dead Planet", but there are a lot more memorable moments all around, especially at the record's end: "The Dulce Incident", "Arc of Creation", and "External Existence".

Very little is out place, yet there are very little elements that puzzle this album together anyway. Oceano consciously attempt to repetitively perform at a certain pace and variety, detonating groove after groove and breakdown after breakdown, yet there are sparks of melody that add a texture to the band's clear deathcore portfolio. Very subtle electronic layers and ambient passages give Ascendants the broader vision the band didn't have up to that point, which is evident almost everywhere (indicatively, check "Dawn of Descent").

The record includes both of the above without either of the two losing screen time, as the band somehow went for a more coherent work rather than chasing thin peaks of memorability in specific moments or parts. Perhaps my expectations were simply shaped too heavily by the band's earlier catalogue. I still associate Oceano with those absurdly heavy, almost cartoonishly violent records that first initiated my interest for this style, even though Ascendants shows growth that doesn't replace the direct force that characterizes the band.

At an interesting middle ground and mirroring the scene's state of affairs during the mid-2010s, the record retains their brutality while cautiously incorporating a little bit more expansive songwriting. It would have been illogical for this to be another Depths in 2015. A perfect album to mindlessly nod to, and easy to completely dissect if you put the "strict reviewer" glasses on. I feel lucky to have at least caught this undercurrent at its birth and evolution.

Rating: 3 out of 5

 

Annotations of an Autopsy - Before the Throne of Infection (2008) Review

One of my earliest and shortest posts on here in October 2012, was about Annotations of an Autopsy and their second full-length album, II: The Reign of Darkness. A more death metal-related record compared to the band's discography, it was the next step after a straight-up brutal deathcore / hardcore debut titled Before the Throne of Infection, in 2008. 

Driven by the charming youthful excess of that era, these British lads grew a notorious name for themselves by encapsulating all the best and the worst of UK deathcore, while being one of its most characteristic presenters. Building on the considerable attention through the Welcome to Sludge City EP, whose introduction, samples and grotesque visuals got legend status in the Myspace generation, this full-length expanded on the palette but stayed true to that circle. 

Nostalgia has undoubtedly colored my perception of this record, but I want to believe the quality, for its kind is there. Other than the obvious epic "Sludge City", hearing the different parts of "Human Dust", "Years of Disgust" and "Deities" transports me back to a time period authentic and long gone. Then, you have the rippers in the likes of opener (after the short intro) "Keeper of the Plague Lands", "Prosthetic Erection" and the heavy self-titled final track. 

Unlike everything else on the album, the band includes a clean guitar, dreamy interlude in the vein of late '00s The Faceless on "The Childsnatcher", which is definitely worth mentioning and especially how it clicks with the first seconds of "Prosthetic Erection". Anthemic shouting in some tracks (loved in hardcore, but hated in death metal circles), some crushing noise breakdown instances here and there now used a lot in slam, a lot of more direct death metal riffs, pig squealing and disgusting lyrics that you regret following when you can. 

Thirty minutes, often groovy and slow but generally in the mood of never holding back, Before the Throne of Infection has the satisfyingly primitive sense of early deathcore, despite an expansive ambition the band had at that time. The grit, the brutality and the imperfection is there, and it's perfect to bring up in a pure death metal discussion if you're a joker like me. 

I've not followed the band since 2010, and never checked the 2019 World of Sludge EP, in fact sometimes avoiding even this release due to some lyrics I find indefensible. Thankfully, the gutturals are sufficiently inhuman — brutal deathcore at its... Messiest.

Fun fact: The Dark Days EP (2011), a mini-album released right after The Reign of Darkness, has an average of 10% rating from eight reviews. A feat!

Rating: 3 out of 5