Review Summary: Being that eclectic can be both a blessing and a curse
I have a hobby: going to the dark corners of Bandcamp and finding some hidden gems in there. One of these gems was the album by Ukrainian band Septa. For a couple of weeks I was completely absorbed by it trying to figure out the concept behind Destroyer.
At first glance it’s a typical mathcore record, maybe not even mathcore, but some kind of alternative metal and metalcore blend a la Slipknot or Deftones. But this delusion wears off once you get to I, Havoc this song will make you check the playlist: is this still the same album playing? This song is dreamy, easy listening and features female vocals. Not that it’s something ground-breaking to play on such contrasts, but it definitely benefits Destroyer and its flow in a good way. We’ll have a similar hiccup with Omega Unmaker later which is channeling a Nine Inch Nails influence. All these pieces build up to a grand finale that is the fifth part of the title track. Cracking the pattern here is easy: five parts of Destroyer are all heavy and noisy, songs in-between serve as innuendo and the three of them all represent some kind of experiments. Destroyer, Pt. 5 is basically a reprise of the beginning of the album that is Destroyer, Pt. 1 and drive the whole record into a neat little circle.
The sound of Destroyer is brutal and raw, even on its softer side it sounds kinda unsettling. Drums are scattered across the mix, bass is very distorted, guitars are piercing, and vocals are always in the spotlight. When Septa hits hard they remind early Norma Jean musically, when they go sideways it’s more of a Faith No More thing then. I personally love that there is no space to break a breath, because of the vocals delivery it’s just non-stop. At times it even sounds like Sikth because of the different vocal styles and singing/screaming interchange, but it’s all one man doing. Sometimes there is too much of different voices overlaying each other making it impossible to comprehend lyrics fully. At times cleans could be cleaner, and croons could be clearer, but overall the range of the singer is very impressive. Music has some interesting time signature shifts and clever arrangements, but some guitar solos wouldn’t hurt. Both electronic songs sound very intriguing and serve their purpose, but lack some sort of resolution in the end and feel a little underdeveloped. One thing shines the brightest and that is Destroyer, Pt. 4: emotional penultimate alternative banger.
I’ve been doing my best to crack the story, but only got some pieces of the puzzle. Basically it’s about a guy with anger management issues and people around him who combust spontaneously, and in the end it’s him who explode blackening the sky. But I’m not sure, lyrics are very cryptic and the message is unclear sometimes. Overall Destroyer is a varied, emotional, and inventive record, but is extremely overlooked even in Septa’s discography. It has its flaws: mostly it’s about the production and not actually being a full-length album. Just an EP, but a fun one.
P.S. To my surprise I’ve discovered that the vocalist is the same with another mathcore band The Nietzsche that I highly recommend.
