Deserters

The Slow Rhythms Of A Dead-Beat

Written by: PP on 17/12/2012 23:20:16

Deserters are a fairly typical hardcore unit from Los Angeles who rely overly much on a standardized chug-chug formula and consequently fail to capitalize on their obvious strengths. Their vocalist delivers a harsh yell most of the time on new album "The Slow Rhythms Of A Dead-Beat", but is occasionally able to inject his shouting voice with a great deal of desperation-driven melody that lifts the songs out of mediocrity into something quite a bit more interesting. One such example is "Trash", where his roughened clean melodies add a whole other dimension to a song that's otherwise driven by down-tuned riff-repetition and other clichés we're used to hearing from similar bands. The song that starts out forgettable and bland suddenly rises above the grey mass of similar-sounding bands and starts giving Deserters a profile they need to continue growing as a band.

"The Plunge" is another excellent track, though here the band avoids too much clean melody, instead opting for a gang shouted 'fuck the world' chorus that'll surely resonate in the hardcore scenes, especially at live shows. "The Afterglow" then follows with a Norma Jean-esque vocal delivery, where the guitars otherwise follow more of a typical metalcore formula with chugged riffs played at the usual lowly tuned levels of hardcore. In fact, there are several instances where the vocalist alone helps elevate Deserters from generic waters, while altering his stance from a pissed off Keith Buckley style southern croon (Every Time I Die) to the aforementioned Norma Jean style or even a more post-hardcore esque stream on a few tracks.

But despite the potential demonstrated on a number of tracks, as a whole, the record is too similar-sounding to the rest of the scene to really matter in the grand scheme of things. While I've enjoyed listening to the numerous half-melodic tracks Deserters have on offer here, it's a struggle to keep them in mind long after you've stopped listening. That's essentially the core issue of the record: it's good, but not memorable enough to seduce you back to it time after time again.

7

Download: Trash, The Plunge, The Afterglow
For the fans of: Hatebreed meets Every Time I Die and Norma Jean
Listen: Facebook

Release date 11.09.2012
Mediaskare Records

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