Auditory Shrapnel: It’s A Modern World, Adapt Or Perish… Posted: 06/04/2016 by John O'Brien
AESECT – “Devour The Earth”
AESECT are a 5-piece metal band from Dublin who recently released their highly anticipated 6 track “Devour The Earth” EP. And if you’re a fan of AESECT like I am, then you have been waiting for this absolute beast of an EP for quite some time now and it feels like heavy metal Santa Clause has finally arrived to show you what a fresh Irish metal band is truly capable of! Whether you are an old school metal head or a modern metal enthusiast, this record has everything you’re looking for. Crunching riffs, blast beats and the spine crushing vocal style of the bands new front man Mark Lennon who joined AESECT a little over a year ago after the departure of Shane Kiernan. Mark had big shoes to fill and he has most definitely propelled AESECT into one of the MUST SEE Irish metal bands.
Listening to “Devour The Earth” makes you feel like you are in the pit. It doesn’t hold back or pull any punches. With songs such as the title track and “The Titans Are Dead” hosting riffs that bring you back to the first time you heard MEGADETH and fucking loosing your mind.
The thing that sets AESECT apart from most of their peers is their sheer dedication and their need to be the best, with a great mix of awe inspiring metal musicians who have been around for a few years now. This record is definitely a milestone for them, but also for the Irish metal scene. AESECT literally have a sound to suits every metal heads needs as well as genuine topics intertwined in their lyrics.
DEAD LABEL – “Throne Of Bones”
DEAD LABEL have become a household name with metal heads in Ireland over the past few years since their original forming in 2008. Hailing from Celbridge , the 3-piece metalcore act have recently come off a full European tour with none other than metal titans FEAR FACTORY. They’ve put out a couple of note worthy releases to date but in 2014 they took off to the U.S. to record their latest effort, “Throne Of Bones” with famed producer/engineer Chris Rakestraw (PARKWAY DRIVE, HUNTRESS & DANZIG)
The title track opening title track throws you straight into the action with Danny Hall’s distinct bassy downtuned riffage accompanied by mountains of growls by Dan O Grady which persists for the entire track and never loses your focus and you are dying to hear what’s coming up next. But I must say the second track on the album ‘Salvation In Sacrifice’ (see video) which is hands down the best track on the album and could easily be an anthem for modern day metalcore. Although saying that, I do think that the soft intro takes away from such a punchy song. Which is probably the biggest critique I would have the album. The more gentle aspects of the album such as the instrumental track ‘The Cleansing’ feel that they don’t fit in the album, although it does at least show the bands willingness to show some dexterity and think outside the box. Where it does work is for the intro to the albums slowest offer, ‘The Birth Of Suffering’. A track that wouldn’t sound out of place on one of AMON AMARTH‘s recent albums.
All in all… this is a very good album. But I do think that maybe eight tracks was possibly too much and that it would have worked better as a five track EP, as most of the tracks seem to carry into each other with little variation between them.
WORDS THAT BURN – “Regret Is For The Dead”
WORDS THAT BURN are without a doubt the most versatile band in this article drawing influence from multiple metal genres across the board. Be it metalcore, hardcore, alternative metal, prog metal, and even death metal… their musical take pretty much has it all and they do effortlessly.
Hailing from Dundalk, WORDS THAT BURN have been climbing their way up through the Irish metal scene for the last six years now and have recently signed a worldwide record deal with Wormholedeath Records / Aural Music. And with the highly anticipated release of their new album “Regret Is For The Dead”, they have definitely propelled themselves to being one of the most enjoyable and exciting bands in the country right now.
The first track on the album ‘Our New Sin’ builds anticipation with a breakdown style intro followed by a bellowing roar from frontman Roni Macruairi, tackling a very prevalent topic in today’s world, the damage done be religion and how we won’t succumb to their believe and their bullshit. I think for many people this topic hits home and what better way to express it than have it in an absolute belter of a tune. The album keeps such a level of consistency from track to track showing the heavy, filthy riffs as well as melodic lunacy and the right level of clean vocals, heavy overlapping and repetition. WORDS THAT BURN have found the secret formula to be heavy and clean at the same time as well as mixing in plenty of electronic dynamics without making it sound forced, which they have demonstrate time and time again.
Much like AESECT I feel that WORDS THAT BURN can appeal to a very wide audience, whether you love bands like ATREYU, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN or DEFTONES, these guys have it in spades. With all reviews there are positives and negatives, but I honestly cannot fault WORDS THAT BURN with this album. Stellar job and one of the best all-round album I’ve heard in a long time.
WORDS THAT BURN will be releasing the first music video for the track ‘Unalive’ very shortly and I would recommend that everyone checks that out! The track will be premiered exclusively on the Cranium Titanium Metal Show on Monday 18th April.
