Review Summary: Attila welcomes you to the other social event of the century.
With recent releases from Dr. Acula and Duck Duck Goose happening to fall on 420, the off-brand of metal they play is gaining some notice. Like it or not, "partycore" is becoming a legitimate genre, and for better or worse, its probably here to stay. And for worse, we have a bad release from Attila in "Rage."
Drawing heavily from stage partners and good friends Dr. Acula, Attila abides heavily by the chugga chugga formula and embrace the use of the breakdown to its fullest capability, oftentimes to the point of tedium. But for the most part, Attila delivers what the genre commands: a fun, in your face metal album with lyrics about partying and getting into all sorts of shenanigans with the law enforcement and lady folk. Too bad someone else already did it, and better.
After a useless intro track, "Make It Sick" quickly makes Attila's mindset clear: The don't give a
fuck. The track is heavy and aggressive, showcasing the guitarist's tendencies to venture into old-school hardcore and thrash territory momentarily before going back to teh crushing brootalz with a breakdown, usually ruining any semblance of flow or originality they had going. As a whole, the instrumental aspect of the band is a bit more polished and technical. They don't stray far from the usual deathcore formula, but they do implement some cool riffs in between the chugging and breakdowns.
The vocalist is probably the most interesting part of Attila. He displays an above average range from deep death growls, to high shrieks, and even some pig squeals for good measure and is at his best when belting out verses in his high pitched throat scream in tracks like “Rage.”
But that’s pretty much where the fun ends. After “Make It Sick” and “Rage” the album deteriorates into a jumbled mess of cliched breakdowns and Emmure-esque screamed rap vocals. It gets old very quickly, and by the time you reach the other only highlight track “Cheyenne 420,” you’ll probably wonder if the guitarists in the band know there there are five other strings than “E.” We may never know if they’re aware of this fact, but at least they venture back into thrash-y territory for a minute or so at this point.
All of the tracks follow a similar formula, and by now you've probably heard enough of the genre to take a stance on it, and Attila certainly won't change your mind. As a fan of some generally pretty bad music (Dr. Acula, Alesana), I’d recommend you avoid this dud of an album and go to Dr. Acula’s party instead. I heard they got a nice bong over there.
