Deathcore, or diet Death Metal as I like to call it, has been a mark upon the Metal world since its inception. My feelings on the genre have gone from love to hate to somewhere in the middle over the course of time. I still don’t fully appreciate it and whilst I say I loved it, I loved maybe a handful of songs, it was never a full obsession. This I think was due to a pre-existing love of Death Metal, hence my terminology diet Death Metal (feel free to use it yourself).
Without hating upon Deathcore too much I must keep my mind open to new experiences. Thus we come today to discuss Beneath The Massacre the Canadian Tech Deathcore heavyweights who have been there since the genres creation. They formed in 2004 and a few years later in 2007 they brought into existence their debut full length Mechanics Of Dysfunction which has since become commonplace among the Deathcore community as a bit of a classic. After this however the band have remained at somewhat the same level. Let us hope that their 2020 fourth full length release Fearmonger from Century Media Records can amp up the bands game.
Rise Of The Fearmonger ushers in the bands Tech heavy sound almost instantaneously which is nice considering that the record is short itself. In the midst of this lack of time wasting there is a battering of Deathcore, bordering on modern Death Metal vocals, as well as crazy fast drums and riffs to match. Although it could be said that the riffs sometimes get a little lost and become little more than weaving patterns which crop up on occasion. Hidden In Plain Sight continues the chaos, that is indeed the most apt word. Yet I don’t mean it negatively, I actually really enjoy the maniacal delivery and the almost Jazz like independence of each instrument, truly this is Extreme Metal in the very sense of the term. The second track does introduce more Deathcore elements in a sort of breakdown, but it’s inoffensive and works pretty well.
The insanity is unforgiving and continual throughout, I’m really appreciative of this as I feel breaks, intros/ outros and any other kind of interlude in albums such as this detract from the carnage that is at hand. Sadly Return To Medusa brings in such an interlude at its closure, although it is brief and can easily be overlooked. The second half of the record contains similar destruction but amid the madness are the little cracks of Deathcore. These sadly are a bit of a downfall for this release and make it seem too mainstream or trendy for what the band are trying to project. It is perhaps best highlighted in Flickering Light, the track closes with a seemingly unending breakdown which could easily have been replaced with far more invigorating Death Metal riff work. Finally the album closes with Tarnished Legacy which seems a befitting name when you consider my prior comments.
Truth be told this is one of the better Deathcore releases I’ve heard of late, and that’s mostly due to the fact that it merely has the genre as a sort of secondary base of sound. I know it might be hard to believe but I actually really liked this album. At first, I was unsure but I soon came around to its ideals (save the Deathcore) and truly this is some decent Tech Death Metal, more focus on the Death Metal for future releases please. Alas if you’re a fan of this band then really I can’t see how you’ll dislike it, and if like me you like moaning about Deathcore only to then go and listen to early Suicide Silence, then again there is enjoyment to be found.
(8/10 George Caley)
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