Terminal Nation : "Echoes of the Devil's Den"

This dark hard-core band opens up their new album with a bleak doomy sound of dystopia burning. The vocals snarl and bark with animalistic anger. When they gain momentum it's difficult to hear where the metal ends and the hard-core begins. The chug driving this album is powerful. "Written By the Victor" gains more speed and finds them attacking with the hyper aggression of death metal. His vocals even focus more on a lower guttural growl. Todd Jones from Nails lends his voice to this song as well.  This might be one of the heaviest albums you have heard in some time. "The Spikes Under the Bridge" starts at a more deliberate pace, then gains steam from the double bass that bubbles up beneath it. 

The ebb and flow of this album seem to find them in a tug of war against the need for speed and this weightier chugging. It is not a perpetual breakdown being fostered, but a more metallic spirit that flows through their musical DNA. They are raging against the system pretty well, and seem pretty angry at the police, In fact, it is the album's angriest moment so far. They push further into death metal, while still balancing things with a hard-core stomp. They are riff-oriented enough to keep things hooky, even when the vocals lock into a barbaric chant. There is a Metallica feel to "Embers of Humanity" where they indulge in impressive guitar solos. 

They pour on the death metal speed for "Merchants of Bloodshed". They are skilled enough to not attempt rushing the song, by but allow for grooves to develop. Lyrically it's about the military-industrial complex which I can appreciate. Jesse from Killswitch Engage lends his voice, to provide a more soaring climax to the song. "Bullet For a Stone" has more of a modern metal groove to it. "Dying Alive" finds them stomping onto the gas, and accelerating to more of a thrashing speed that brings earlier Entombed to mind. While the logic to their songwriting is influenced by hardcore, they do not conform to the breakdown formula. 

The production of this album is very raw and in your face. Despite being incredibly dense, the guitars sound like they are being cranked through blown-out speakers. "Immolation" has more of a death-metal feel to it. They also bring back more of the Entombed influence that lurks in the background. Dwid from Integrity joins them on the last song. He fits well within the scope of what they are doing here. Dwid has an almost Lemmy-like rasp here. I will give this album a 9.5, it's a dark and gritty take on metallic hard-core that crosses it with death metal in a manner that is more deserving of being called metal core or deathcore than the kids who have taken on those labels. 

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