Check them out for yourself:
YouTube
Notes I took:
- Panic. One of my first impressions of this album off the bat was that it has a strong deathcore outfit. The material encompassed a lot of characteristics that predominantly define deathcore when it came to general feel. It held a perfect balance between this “fight or flight” anxiety sensation and slow angry crashing waves.
- The violins. As the album began I was greeted by a soft gust of violins. I found it quite an artistic touch and a wise use of ambiance; especially, in comparison to the unnerving sobbing baby that seamlessly faded into rabid grunting. This album embodied a lot ominous orchestra undertones from start to finish.
Deathcore as a genre is no stranger to the likes of such
things as violins and pianos. It’s my personal observation that since the rise
of deathcore in the early 2000’s that bands have always been open to
experimenting with obscure directions (for the genre, I mean) like orchestra and
even choir. This album here featured incredible lady choir during a breakdown
that I thought was brilliant.
- The samples were well placed. I couldn’t make out where any of the lines were sampled from and I almost like it that way. They were as interesting as they were intoxicating. I wanted to make special note that they used both male and female dialogue samples, in separate tracks, on this album and that stuck out to me for some reason; both were equally as haunting.
- The vocals. RIP Me. The front man is wildly talented on several levels. I was blown away by his broad pitch range. His versatility further extended beyond just his highs and his lows, his line delivery spoke volumes toward his confidence on the microphone and with his own abilities. I loved that he played around with different singing patterns and really contributed his own flavor. I even sensed subtle influences of slam/beatdown in some of his choruses.
Composition is more than apparent in this album and the
vocals are a shining example. It’s clear to me that the vocalist really took the
time to construct each verse, and largely, each track; this is no casual
weekend jam session. Aside from homeboy’s obviously gifted growls and shrieks,
you can tell he used every ounce of poetic license in his bone marrow for this
album. I was taken back a few steps by his capability to fully express a story.
The whole album felt like a giant evil folklore and each track he was telling
us more and more of this dark chronicle. The story telling style fit well with the general atmosphere, I thought it was rather to intriguing and fresh. Personally, I also couldn't help but notice that all the biblical
folklore gave the album a slight black metal tone.
I also loved that he kept using nasty words such as
clitoris, cunt, and cock. However, these words are considered gentle when held
up against the subject matter happening in the rest of the material. In deeper remarks of the lyricism, they were
certainly driving home a singular point. The album entirely consisted of a sole
theme addressing the disturbing horrors of pedophiliac traditions practiced by
religious figures in our society since the very beginning of organized
theology. In addition, with a band name like “Infant Annihilator”, you bet your
sweet fucking ass there is baby murder, baby cutting, baby castrating, and all
sorts of baby rape saturating this album.
- Guest vocals. I was extremely happy they had four guest vocalists roll through on the album. I heavily endorse the idea of artists collaborating with each other as much as they can. I would love to see where death metal can really go when people put their creative energy together. I really enjoyed the contribution these dudes individually made to the material they were working with. It was a legitimate pleasure to feel them come on and really show out their best for this Infant Annihilator, I felt like it brought the whole thing together in its own way. I also enjoyed getting to hear the distinctive differences in each vocalist, it really shed light on the defining factor vocalists have in their bands.
*Special Guest Vocalists:
Chris Whited- Lost Fortune
Bryan Long- Dealey Plaza
Dillon Becker- AnimalFarm
Tyler Shelton- Traitors
- The guitars are so technical it hurt. I was seriously impressed by the guitars in this album for their attention to precision. The riffs were mindfully structured and decisive at all times. They left no stone untouched between all the frantic gallops, fine point solos, and merciless breakdowns. I took personal note that they did not skip out on the breakdowns one bit in this album. It also stuck out to me that they were not afraid to play around with odd timing, which I think certainly worked in their favor.
I’ve observed that in the last five or so years that deathcore bands have been really experimenting with this off timing and using
it to channel this sort of suspenseful vibe to supplement the already present
panic/anxiety vibe that the genre naturally takes on. Personally, I can dig it.
- The drums meant fucking business. Each beat was set in stone from the moment it was struck. The whole album derived its defining hyper technical demeanor primarily from the drums. The incredible speeds the drums were hitting were absolutely mind blowing. On the opposite end of that spectrum I couldn’t help but notice that the drums did attribute to the undertones of slam and beatdown I was sensing throughout the album, especially around breakdowns and bridges. I personally loved the slow influence in this material because it really added to the unholy ominous thing they were going for.
- The bass was more than present. In this album, the bass made a statement too. The bass was just as technical as the rest of the dudes. Something I noticed within the first few minutes of the album was that the bass was no whisper. It came in crashing like beautiful black waves. I must also remark upon the observation that the bass did have a “slap” element to it in places, further contributing to that slam/beatdown feel I kept sensing. There were neatly placed long deep notes that added this dismal factor to the complimented precision of the rest of the bass tracks.
I give a real shout out to the producer for how well the
bass sat in the mix. It was apparent that there was special attention paid to
the bass tracks. From the clarity of the bass tracks I could just tell they
mixed them to sit in the foreground of the sound and I think that was a smart
decision. I feel like giving the bass more of a voice in the album only reinforced
that sludgy beatdown presence.
Jesse Kirkbride of Kirkbride Recordings, you're doing good.
Overall: This album was nothing sort of a masterpiece and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, kid. The attention to detail and the
bleeding heart dedication to the music is just breath taking. The album was a
glowing spectacle of harmonious duality on all fronts from the collective vibe
to each musician’s individual performance. When I finished the initial listen of the
material, I genuinely had a “proud parent moment” for them. Then I wiped the
blood from my eyes.
Good job Infant Annihilator. You’re doing good.
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