Artist: This Or The Apocalypse
Title: Dead Years
Genre: Metalcore
Release Date: 21st September 2012
Label: eOne Records
Album Review
‘Dead Years’ is THIS OR THE APOCALYPSE’s third full length effort to day, and they still sound like they are going strong. Blending Screamo with Metalcore, every track is a sonic assault but it is done tastefully. There is plenty of melody with the guitars, which sometimes makes the music feel like Melodic Death Metal, but the vocals betray that notion. They bellow, growl (like in Deathcore) snarl and scream (Metalcore) and even include some clean singing, such as on ‘In Wolves’. After the first two tracks the music tends to seem a bit one sided and many Metalcore fans who have not heard THIS OR THE APOCALYPSE before will probably feel like they’ve heard it all before, but the music picks up from this point. The blend of harsh vocals and clean vocals is a fine effort from this band to mix things up. On ‘Americans’, the vocals tend to lead into harsh territory only, but the guitars offer a more melodic opening and even when they seem like they’re going full tilt, the solos are lengthier, slower, and almost melancholic. Of course, this vanishes when the chugging riffs start swinging again.
The band also tosses some Industrial elements in their music. Continuing to diversify their tracks, ‘You Own No One But You’ features a few schizophrenic beat moments before giving way to the anthem Deathcore chugging, shortly before a section of clean singing that is definitely the highlight of the track. Sadly the band doesn’t use more moments like these. ‘A Damn Moment’ builds upon a symphonic background the make a driving impact and though it may not be the fastest track out there, it still is probably one of the best tracks on the album next to ‘You Own No One But You’. The closing ‘Hard Brach To Snap’ is pretty standard Metalcore and doesn’t really bring forth anything special in the long run, but it still features plenty of rhythms and melodies. Even the chorus is designed to sound like it has a “choral feeling” with the backing vocals. Overall, the music here would suit fans of MISS MAY I and BRING ME THE HORIZON quite well. It’s not quite full on Metalcore cookie-cutter formula- here and there a fan may find an overused riff or too used- but the group uses lots of progressive elements and mixes genres up here and there to keep things lively. The closing of ‘Hard Brach To Snap’ is excellent with its piano additions, and demonstrates a fine example of how THIS OR THE APOCALYPSE is coming along in the years.
Tracklist
01. Hell Praiser
02. Power Hawk
03. In Wolves
04. Americans
05. Hate The Ones You Love
06. You Own No One But You
07. A Damn Moment
08. Gaunt And Fierce
09. Kill ‘Em With Guidance
10. Hard Brach To Snap
Line-up
Rick Armellino− lead vocalist
Jack Esbenshade− guitar
Matthew Marcellus− bass, backing vocals
Rodney Phillips− guitar, backing vocals
Aaron Ovecka− drums
Website
https://www.facebook.com/thisortheapocalypse
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 7
Sound: 7
Total: 7 / 10
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