Review: DESTRIERS – “Cynosure”… Posted: 28/01/2017 by Philip Morrissey
In recent times, the Irish scene has seen an abundance of top quality bands playing Hardcore. Going back to the eighties, bands such as CHROMATIC DEATH were integral to the expansion of the Irish metal scene as a whole. This developed as bands began taking influence from the New York Hardcore scene to create something of their own. This was primarily driven by bands in Dublin, and from the North, but also reached other parts of the country. BY ANY MEANS, BAILER, DISSENT, FAMINE and GHOST OF MEDINA all channeled their inner Terror and Madball. More recently the familiar template has been taken on by newer bands to incorporate elements of thrash, sludge, crust, post-metal and grind.
It is to this formula that DESTRIERS find themselves in. Coming together recently, they might be familiar to some. They are comprised of former members of a couple of other bands on the local hardcore scene. This may have caught the attention of many, as would their use of a stunning piece by Zdzislaw Beksinski for their artwork. The band themselves seem to be operating in a generally heavier frame of mind. It is not quite the full on assault by some modern bands in the spectrum such as TRAP THEM but harder than those producing more oblique riffs and beats. The band themselves have listed such influences as OLD MAN GLOOM, GODMOTHER, DEAD IN THEDIRT and latter day NAPALM DEATH.
What is noticeable about the band so far is their intensity and speed. Few of the seven tracks exceed the two minute mark and it is all over within fifteen. Thankfully, this is not just brutality for brutality’s sake. They have an ability to hone in on the message at hand through compact songwriting. The pace switches accordingly. At stages they blast at full pace that seems like a whirlwind. At other times, this drops and becomes bleak and disgusting, whilst maintaining its heaviness. The racket created by Matt on drums, Shauny on guitars and Craig on bass has enough musicianship to allow for both dissonance and melody. Steve’s vocals sync with the music to a tee being suitably ugly and furious. Credit to a excellent job to Brad Boatright at Audiosiege on his work here.
This is currently available as the band have set up as a “name your own price” download at Bandcamp. Their next port of call is to play support to SLIDHR in both Dublin and Limerick at the start of February. A show that certainly is one to get to.
Reviewed by Philip Morrissey
