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Review Summary: Less Killswitch more Misery Signals. Canberra natives enforce this new policy on Metalcore. Metalcore can more or less be separated into 4 overarching categories; there’s the abrasive style that combines metallic riffs with elements of both Grindcore and Emo (Converge, Coalesce, etc). There’s the somewhat similar math-y style that also borrows from Grindcore that is also more technical and slightly more accessible (Botch, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Between the Buried And Me), of course there’s the popular and overdone slut of the genre that calls itself “melodic” Metalcore or jun-core (Killswitch Engage, Poison the Well, As I Lay Dying). And then there’s the final style, which for the most part is the least corrupted of the 4, occupied by bands who don’t suck (mainly because it’s too difficult to pull off) and that is the other “melodic” Metalcore that was popularized by bands like 7 Angels 7 Plagues, Shai Hulud, Hopesfall and Misery Signals.
Dead Kings falls firmly into that final category, hailing from Canberra Australia; Dead Kings are without a doubt the best Australian Metalcore band to have graced my ears. Unlike the slew of awful that has spawned from the Oz scene (Parkway Drive, I Killed The Prom Queen, MICHAEL CRAFTER!!!) Dead Kings do their best to not only establish themselves as something different but also put forth a musical offering of impeccably high quality. Taking influence from 7A7P, Shai Hulud and Misery Signals (Of Malice And the Magnum Heart-era) the band has crafted a sound that combines the sheer brutality and chaos of the aforementioned bands, at the same time incorporating melodic riffs, ambient sections and varied vocals in a similar yet unique manner.
Vocalist Zaca, has an incredibly varied range of vocals, moving from low growls to high screams and demonstrating a solid mid-range between the two. Aside from having decent vocal techniques, he’s able to fit his voice to the accompanying music, manipulating his voice to suit the atmosphere crafted by his colleagues. In regards to the instrumental performance the band is quite impressive, combining lush melodies and ambient sections with enough chug-filled brutality to pummel the listener into oblivion. Rather than take a page out of the generic Metalcore playbook and stick to one-note breakdowns, the chugging found here is both varied and relatively complex.
Similarly the melodic riffs never drag on or dominate the sound, acting more as a complementary aspect to the sound than a defining one. The drumming throughout the album is both consistent and interesting, with numerous enjoyable fills provided throughout. Again making sure to avoid the traps numerous contemporary acts have fallen into, the drums serve as their own entity rarely following the guitar work and standing out without trying to dominate the other band members.
Whilst the bass can be unfortunately inaudible for large amounts of the record, the ambient sections allow for it to shine through, allowing the instrument to add greatly to the already interesting atmosphere presented by the band. Altogether the instrumental performance put forth by the band is incredibly well done, especially for a debut recording. Everything just sounds right; the band makes excellent use of their studio space, encapsulating the listener. The guitars are produced perfectly, the vocals always sound full and the drums offer a wide array of sounds and textures.
Dead Kings self-titled release is quite easily the best Metalcore album to have been released in 2009 and is without a doubt the best album to have come out of the Australian Metalcore scene. With their debut album Dead Kings have made a statement to all other bands out there, this is how you make a Metalcore album.
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Album Rating: 4.5
This album is better than anything you like.
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Heard bits and pieces from this, pretty good. Definitely checking it out now I guess.
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no it's not
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
^mmm yeah it is.
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No, its not. Get off your metalcore high horse. Also, you called Converge and Coalesce emo. Really? I mean, REALLY?!
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Durrrrrrr Whereismymind cannot read good or do other stuff good. I said they take elements from Grindcore and Emo, go listen to Saetia and Pg. 99 and tell me that Bannon and Ingram don't incorporate similar vocal styles.
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Well i listen to both, and no, they dont.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
I could argue this out cos you're a mega fag, but I'll put it in the simplest way I can.
Jacob Bannon often falls in and out of tune when singing, especially on earlier recordings, his voice cracks and breaks and his cleans were hardly ever in tune. His voice was more about communicating the emotion instead of being technically sound. Drew Speziale is quite similar, his voice gives out, cracks and breaks and instead of revolving around being technically sound he is more about communicating emotion. This is also true for singers like Guy Piccioto, Billy Werner and Jonathon Vance typically it is a vocal style that was regarded as one of the earliest ways in which to identify which bands were playing standard DC hardcore and which bands were playing Emo.
Both Sean Ingram and Jacob Bannon have been known to make use of a similar style of vocals and as such I am quite comfortable to say that they took influence or at least share similarities with numerous Emo vocalists. So suck a dick.
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I've grown tired of metalcore recently but i might give this a try, solid review
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
I'd definitely recommend it, especially if the metalcore you've been listening to is more in line with jun bands, this'll be a breath of fresh air.
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This album is better than anything you like.
Hmm, if you love it, maybe i'll give it a listen
Jacob Bannon often falls in and out of tune when singing, especially on earlier recordings, his voice cracks and breaks and his cleans were hardly ever in tune.
Maybe because he's not a great vocalist?
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I'll check this out.
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This is also true for singers like Guy Piccioto, Billy Werner and Jonathon Vance
yeah guys!
Guy Piccioto.
[IMG]http://www.pokezam.com/tcg/base/22.jpg[/img]
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Maybe because he's not a great vocalist?
Opinion, fact is that those vocalists I've mentioned do similar things and that was my point. Besides that, it's a tiny comparison that has almost no impact on the review, it's there solely to give a little perspective on the genre.
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lol Palace hates palm-muting so much. you're very biased about your metalcore, but review is good. one issue though.. Poison the Well hasn't sounded anything like KsE or AILD in like a decade dude... I don't remember the last time they palm muted open D-strings.. maybe on Tear from the Red?
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
lol Palace hates palm-muting so much. you're very biased about your metalcore, but review is good. one issue though.. Poison the Well hasn't sounded anything like KsE or AILD in like a decade dude... I don't remember the last time they palm muted open D-strings.. maybe on Tear from the Red?
Bias implies it's unfounded, my dislike for breakdown centric bands isn't unfounded, they're generally uninteresting. Just because PTW doesn't play jun-core now (they're still not enjoyable) doesn't stop their defining album being the bible according to chug. So from where I stand there's no issue in sticking them in with those bands.
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Bias in now way implies unfounded, and uninteresting is opinion not fact. Just sayin. I mean, sure, TOoD is the blueprint for breakdown-centric metalcore, I'll give you that. But grouping PtW with those bands and saying they're jun-core is the equivalent of grouping Deftones with Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park and Korn, or grouping Faith No More with RHCP and Fishbone. And I assume Radiohead is just another brit-rock band right?
Pink Floyd should be defined by Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Neurosis never went post-metal...
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
But grouping PtW with those bands and saying they're jun-core is the equivalent of grouping Deftones with Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park and Korn, or grouping Faith No More with RHCP and Fishbone. And I assume Radiohead is just another brit-rock band right?
Pink Floyd should be defined by Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Neurosis never went post-metal..
Actually you don't get it all, as I mentioned in the review, jun-core is a style of metalcore. Deftones and Limp Bizkit share almost no similarities, even in their early days Deftones had a lot that separated their style of Nu-Metal from what Limp Bizkit did. On top of that Deftones arguably never even played Nu-metal so much as they played alternative metal that borrowed from Nu-metal. Poison the Well have played music that is breakdown centric, so have KSE and so have AILD, The point being PTW have more incommon with those bands than they do Dead Kings.
Also I never said that PTW shouldn't be considered for anything other than their first album, it doesn't change the fact that a perfect example of that style of Metalcore can be traced back to PTW. And on the subject of those other bands FNM have almost no similarites with RCHP save for The Real Thing and even then you're grasping at straws if you're arguing anything beyond vocal similarity.
And brit-rock just means and british rock band. So yeah Radiohead are a british rock band. I fail to see what your point was there, as you didn't supply a band with borderline 0 similarities to compare them to.
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dude, have you never heard Adrenaline? it was pretty much what Limp Bizkit based their entire career around... also, I was referring to pre-Mike Patton FNM, which sounds quite a bit like old Chili Peppers, they were from the same scene after all. So, Deftones have played alt/metal with rapping and FNM played funk rock with talking/rapping... I take it you just haven't listened to those bands earliest albums.
yeah, I couldn't think of a band to compare Pablo Honey to, my point was that defining a band by their first album isn't the most accurate way to do it. Most people who know PtW don't associate them with KsE or AILD (Unearth would have been a more appropriate choice probably) nor do they think of them as jun-core. The same way people don't think of Deftones as rap metal, FNM as funk rock or Radiohead as borderline grunge.
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Why is everyone thinking Hopesfall is/was Metalcore when they only released one album with light Metalcore influences, I mean wtf.
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