Proprioception

Review originally published at http://www.teethofthedivine.com by Erik Thomas

Apparently Earache was so impressed with the record breaking sales of Oceano’s Depths last year, and unable to wait for the bands follow up, Contagion, the label has gone and signed Detroit’s And Hell Followed With ― an almost identical act to Oceano.

So now most of you have left, and those who remain are deathcore fans who appreciated Oceano’s heavier than hell release, the above statement is not meant as detrimental, but more of a complement. Basically, take the heft and brutality of Oceano’s Depths, particularly the title track, add some melodic moments and solos and you have Proprioception.

With a very stout Josh Wichman (Within the Ruins) production, Proprioception delivers an album that meets all the tenets of elite deathcore in spades. That means it’s more death metal than hardcore, resulting in one of the genre’s most impressive efforts ― immediately raising the band’s level of dominance to that of Whitechapel, I Declare War and, of course, Oceano.

After the requisite intro “Mara”, “This Night Is The Coroner’s” shows the band’s take on deathcore with a melodic solo surfacing amid a expectedly rumbling, gang chant filled breakdown. But the following two tracks “Deadworld Reclamation”, and “”In Vastness, I Transfigure” focus on the bands more urgent, death metal chops, while still managing to inject some very cool solo work. And I don’t mean noodly, shredding solos, but darkly evocative, eerie solo work that gives And Hell Followed With a more menacing feel than many of their peers. Of course, the heart and soul of the music are blast beats and breakdowns ― the band don’t disappoint there. With the likes of “Rotting Procession”, the lumbering “Dismantle”, “One of the Swarm” and my personal favorite, “A Welcome Displeasure”, all show a firm, confident grasp of the maligned genre, even if some of the tracks seem to blend at the album’s later stages. Also, the closing track, “Perpetual Abyssma”, is a pure instrumental “look, we can play introspective stuff” -cliché. As for the special edition’s bonus track, “The Greatest Deception”, I question its importance in the grand scheme of things.

It’s fitting the album is called Proprioception (a sort of self-awareness or self-perception) as And Hell Followed With make no qualms or excuses for their chosen style. Instead, they go after it with a rabid precision and tenacity that should see them rise to the top of the deathcore-heap ― be that as it may.