Death is June -100 Demons :" Embrace the Black Light"

 Not all metalcore is as bad as you assume it might be; in fact, some of it is much more metal than core, to the point that you can't tell the difference between something like the opening track from this band's album and the bulk of death metal that came out in the early 2000s. There is a more omnious punch to "Made For Nothing"; the vocals on this one are really the only things keeping this from being death metal, even then, the wall of double that comes crashing in is pretty impressive. "Through Seven Eternities" hammers even harder as they speed up coming out of the verse, before chugging their way into some headbanging riffage. 

"Meat For the Beast" is running off a Slayer-like drive. While their vocalist rides the riffs well with his gritty bark that sometimes comes clsoer to a growl, he is rather one-dimensional, but I did not notice until I was four songs in. It is also four songs in until they hit the first breakdown riff. "Nail it Shut" races more likea punk song, but that could also be said of Entombed. In the second half of the song, they lock into more of a groove. "Cold Wind of the Cross Roads' finds the vocals taking on more of a growl at first. The mean riff that is metal as fuck is what elevates this one. Sung vocals also show up here; they are counterbalanced by growls.

"Han Hammer" is blessed with some great riffs, which seems to be the common trait shared on this album. There is a super mean but simple riff that is the core of "Night Parade of 100 Demons".  Their drummer is getting it on "Foul," which works off a huge guitar sound. As a whole, this album benefits from immaculate production. "Werewolves at the Wall" starts off racing at you like At the Gates. The vocal trade-off on the chorus is more hardcore. "Return to Zero" carries a convincing menace as it finds a thrashing groove.The last song also follows a similar path. The album sounds great, the vocals are a little one dimensional is my only complaint but they have no shortage of ripping riffs to balance it out. I will give it a 9.5 , and see how it grows on me.

pst228