Left to Suffer : " Feral"

 

This metalcore band is not just jumping on the White Chapel band wagon. They took things in a darker direction and  seem to have just as much in common with the bands in the nu-metal revival. Sure "Artificial Anatomy" is geared toward the Tik Tok generation with its spastic electronic glitching. The commonplace phenomena that occur with bands who deal in the extremes of heavy, no matter then sub-genre, is they hit you with something that is sonically stunning in its immense sound, so you do not have a clear enough head until the second song to ask the important questions like ..." Well Ok, but can you write a fucking song?"  

They continue to avoid this question until "Primitive Urge".  The creepier elements of moodiness are important to provide breathing room from the down-tuned riffs that slam into you with varying degrees over the groove. I am pretty clear in regards to what I do not want from these kinds of bands. That is for an entire song to sound like a breakdown. They manage to avoid that. "Break the Fever" is another stomp fest. Lyrically they are closer to nu-metal as they sort through their issues. He is taking about taking pills, so at least he has insurance. How bad can it be then? He is fighting every day with depression, which I can relate to but it never makes me this angry. They bust out a guitar solo on this song, which is better than expected. 

"Recluse" is an example of their songwriting prowess that I was reserving my judgment for. It balances a groove that seems to follow a story they are telling in a pretty coherent fashion. There is a wide array of weird little guitar sounds that buzz and whirl around the mammoth riffs. 'Illusion of Sleep" is more hammering with a more thrashing intensity.  The chaos kicked up on "Disappoint Me" rages with a similar fury as Slipknot, it a few places. Some interesting vocal colors are being applied to the shifting riffage. The last song finds the band crushing on the same kind of riffage that has been dominating the album up to this point. The vocals swing for the fences by singing a more anthemic hook before the 808 drops the beat in. They wrap things up with machine-like syncopation hammering at you. 

This is not the kind of music that I would normally listen to. I prefer my metal mixed with hardcore in a manner more like Converge or with a darker grindcore influence like Nails. The fact they held my attention speaks to the sounds they managed to assemble here. What they do is bound to be divisive in the metal community. However, if I want something that is dumbed down into a more juvenile groove then this is the sort of thing I might put on if I wanted to hear something newer, than Coal Chamber or Korn's first album. They lead you through a quirky maze with the jerk of a leash not unlike what many of their peers also do. However, these guys manage to do it in a way that is just hooky enough to keep me along for the ride. Time will tell how this album stands up after repeat listens. Right now I will give it a 9.