Review Summary: 3 - Generic but Aight
Arrived is the paint-by-numbers metal splash cannon. The album goes hard easily, almost like they didn’t write the book of metal but merely stole it from other deathcore bands, whom stole it from death metal bands, whom stole it from The Wiggles. They did that, agreed, and they are excellent studiers. Still, to get a decent grade in this deathcore course you need a lick of originality, of which there is none in Heritage. Tsk tsk, here’s your C-, and your Opeth reference; in the future I expect more from you!
The breakdowns are as original as inventing toothpaste in 2023. If the entire album wasn’t one massive breakdown there may have been hope. Instead, the very soil of the album is composed of breakdowns, and therefore the speed of songs is of a semi truck moving out of a parking spot - slow and steady. They’re entertaining at first, but the riffs aren’t there, and neither is my attention span. Slow chugs chugs are cool for the show Thomas & Friends, but less cool here. At least the drummer is quite double bass savvy, he can drum like a jackhammer.
Some vaguely “creepy”, vaguely sci-fi atmospherics are present. The ominous presence is dispersed generously, attempting to arise a little terror in between and during riffs, making riffs a little more like jump scares. Such a thing has been done before, and quite a bit by generic deathcore acts. As history repeats itself so does this album repeat itself to the point of pointlessness. Their pointed toothy grin loses their points.
It’s not a terrible album, if you like generic deathcore you could do worse. The basic elements are here, derivative though they are, and the album slams like a loudly shut microwave. Rude yet noisy as heck, this hits the core of deathcore. In conclusion, the album is generic but metal, with some riffs here/there but not enough to fill an entire basket. If you enjoy deathcore, this is something to put on while making your daily peanut butter sandwich, until you realize you forgot the music was on. The album may not butter your bread, but at least it’ll toast it.
