Review Summary: Deathcore by any other name.
It has been interesting to watch the landscape of metal and hardcore change over the years. Not too long ago, the marriage of the two had been renounced by purists on either side of the fence. The fusion of death metal and hardcore got particularly poor reception, but not without good reason. Deathcore often lacked the technical virtuosity of death metal and the grit and vigor of hardcore. However, like most fleeting trends, enough time has passed for people to reflect on deathcore with a particular fondness. Once nostalgia settles in, it becomes a treat to hear these influences reemerge among newcomers. New York’s upstarts Sanction succinctly summed up this renewed attitude toward metalcore and its offshoots in an interview with Aggressive Tendencies: “mosh parts are the only thing that matter.”
It’s a simple statement that effectively describes the objective of bands like North Carolina’s self-described “heavy hardcore” hitters Invoke.
No Law Beyond is a blistering EP with no shortage of mammoth sized breakdowns and dizzying death metal riffage. Brutal gutturals are punctuated by gang vocals and palm-muted chromatic sorcery on cuts like “Common Grave” and “Dominant Life Form.” The title track dazzles listeners with soaring leads before mutating into a slugfest that would make slam kings like Ingested green with envy. On their latest outing, Invoke successfully merges confident metallic bravado with brazen lizard-brain throwdowns.
No Law Beyond isn’t a spectacular reimagining that pushes deathcore into new territory, but it functions as a fun detour for those yearning for simpler times.
