Proprioception

Okay, I understand why people don't like AHFW. The reason they don't like them is because vocalist Nick Holland shocks the shit out of everyone with his ear-shattering high-pitched screams. Black Dahlia Murder fans will be all over this band.

At first I was also shocked by Holland's unconventional style, but I let it grow on me, and in going deeper into the album I found some killer tracks, but before that, what of the instruments?

The only thing that didn't strike me as outstanding was the bass. He didn't do anything wrong, but he didn't do anything extraordinary like Nick from Cephalic Carnage. The two guitarists, however, harmonize like I've never seen before, combining brutal riffs that lean closer to death metal than anything else, also with the added twist of awe-inspiring melodies that become more and more powerful as the album progresses. Tracks that hold the best guitar riffs would be "One of the Swarm" and "Those Now Sleep Forever".

The drummer is your standard death metal beast, pounding his double bass as always, but successfully compliments the guitars in his own fascinating manner.

Going back to the vocal section, one cool thing about this album is that both death metal and hardcore fans will be satisfied with the use of brutal death metal vocals (highs and lows) as well as a hardcore scream that you'll hear throughout the album, which surprisingly work well despite the fact that many vocalists in the 'hardcore' spectrum usually fail to impress the metal community. Breakdowns on this album are very well done and very well placed, which is something that cant be said about 90% of the bands in the deathcore genre. A good example of this is the breakdown in "A Welcome Displeasure".

Big tracks on this album would be "A Welcome Displeasure", "Those Now Sleep Forever", "Deadworld Reclaimation", "One Of The Swarm", and the instrumental "Perpetual Abyssma".

One added note to this review is a commentary on the lyrics. Unlike many extreme bands, AHFW writes lyrics that are very emotional and still gory and violent in many respects, but veer away from the Cannibal Corpse-inspired groups that discourage death metal-based acts from writing deep and meaningful lyrics like you may see in the greats like Dismember, Death, and in later years, Opeth (before they sold out).

All in all, this album is but a mere example of what the new wave of core-based metal bands would sound like at peak performance. This is why death metallers and hardcore fans alike should both give this album a shot, for the complimentary mixing of the two styles, along with a unique twist, gives the album its own unique flavor.