And Hell Followed With

Proprioception

Written by: AP on 13/09/2010 19:46:55

What makes people believe that replicating the sound of some successful band is a wise career choice? Could it be that the very thing that made such a band successful in the first place, was a combination of timing and innovation; being ahead of one's time, and bearing the flag? And yet so many bands ignore the inevitable truth that in doing so, they condemn themselves to a brief stint of playing half-empty toilet venues aside their likeminded peers and eventually disband, going back to their nine-to-five day jobs, or perhaps joining or forming yet more similar bands to continue the trend.

One of these doomed propositions is this hopelessly generic deathcore outfit from Michigan, offering little more than trite stereotypes like fearsome encyclopedia babble ("Proprioception"?), dissonant breakdowns and unintelligible, layered screaming and growling. There is the occasional decent riff in a song like "Deadworld Reclamation", a couple of moderately impressive solos in the likes of "This Night Is the Coroner's", and the rare bar of ambient melodies and samples such as those in "In Vastness, I Transfigure", but as a whole, the album comes across as bland and second grade. Moments like these remind us that instrumental skill is not the issue, and one has to wonder, why has it not been put to better use? Chugging and dissonance may earn you a small, but tight-knit following of ignoramuses for whom slam-dancing opportunities are key, but in order to survive in such a saturated market one really needs to have an edge.

Unfortunately this is the one thing that And Hell Followed With lacks, as even the better tracks "One of the Swarm" and "A Welcome Forever" come across as uninspired and idolatrous. One needs not ponder long to realise that these are direct consequences of poor writing and remember that above all - even with the fastest fingers - noodling across the neck of a six-string requires soul in order to woo the listener. As such it would be unfair to recommend this album even to fans of deathcore, because there are bands of a much higher standard in the genre, using the elements that And Hell Followed With have chosen to omit.

4

Download: In Vastness, I Transfigure, One of the Swarm, A Welcome Forever
For the fans of: King Conquer, The Last Felony, What Lies Beneath
Listen: Myspace

Release date 26.07.2010
Earache

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.