Proprioception

If there is a single phrase that could properly sum up the short-lived Michigan based novelty that was And Hell Followed With, it would be "a big pile of stuff". As vague and unclear as that analogy may be, it is a revealing character of the schizophrenic approach that this mid-west outfit takes to deathcore. It is heavily informed by the sort of mixing and splicing of sub-genres that was spearheaded by the likes of Into Eternity and several others, but translates it into a medium that manages, strangely enough, to be both highly mechanical in character and yet bordering on complete randomness structurally. In a nutshell, these guys manage to buck the trend of many modern extreme bands by not coming off as monotonous, yet somehow manage to be equally as lackluster in their own unique way.

In all fairness, this band's cartoonish sophomore effort Proprioception is not without a few moments of flair and intrigue, though they often come in amid a stilted mess of studio effects and jumbled sectional jumps. The vocalist has a fairly competent grasp of how to mix up various extreme vocalizations from pig squeals and belch-like barks to a high pitched wail that is often likened to The Black Dahlia Murder's front man. Occasionally there are also hints of hardcore-infused shouts that wouldn't be out of place on a Discharge album to boot. In similar fashion, the drummer is a veritable surgeon of militant precision that manages some of the most intensely fast beats imaginable, taking on the quality of a drum machine while lacking the impersonal character of sound that usually goes with it.

Sadly, while the extremities of this band are in reasonably good order, the middle of this thing just falls out from the get go and never really recovers. Most of the fault for this lay in the songwriting, which meanders in an aimless fashion, hitting just about every mark from grooving djent-sounding low end riffs and stale, highly formulaic tremolo riff work sounding like a reject from a Cryptopsy session. There are even a few places where a random melodeath section with a high degree of sloppy post-rock elements comes and goes with little rhyme or reason. The guitar work, while competent, is highly banal and largely goes through the motions with little sign of feeling or ingenuity, whereas the bass may as well not be there given its lack of prominence and the already deep tone of the guitars.

For all the unique elements that would normally make a band like this stand out, there are a number of prominent bands that have done it before and way better. The quirky, otherworldly aesthetic that was being reach for with all the processed effects that went into this album's post-production has been explored with far more technical flair by Rings Of Saturn, the hyper-speed melodeath sections can be explored in far better quality on a middle era release of The Crown or The Black Dahlia Murder, and the tuned-down bass-like grooves can be heard in all their uninhibited glory on just about anything put out by Meshuggah after Chaosphere. It's highly forgettable, lacks any sense of staying power, and will probably do little for even rabid fans of metalcore and deathcore.