Ov Apocalypse Incarnate

When Arizona death metal stars Job for a Cowboy famously left behind deathcore in favor of a purist death metal sound on their full-length, a herd of similar bands followed in their footsteps not long after, which included Carnifex and Whitechapel; both of which noticeably tried to get a more pure death metal(ish) sound by their third records. I thought making a move of playing deathcore and jumping ship to "tr00 metal" was a mistake that has been documented as the prime example of what you should never do. —Not only will you never appease death metal tards this way (in their eyes a deathcore band is always bad whether you still play it or not), but also you're effectively alienating your entire fanbase who you gained from your debut material by doing so. JFAC did put out some really good records as a death metal group, but was it really worth sacrificing the deathcore fans who loved them for the Doom EP?

Applaud the Impaler, while they were never really explicitly just "a deathcore band", have went ahead and lessened the -core elements as seen on their 2010 debut. This time, the technical riffage has been increased, while fat drawn-out breakdowns have been decreased with more proficient songwriting attached to the overall product displayed here. 9 years is a really long wait for a band to release new material, had this album came out in like 2013 or something I would be much more understanding of what the group were trying to do here. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if most of these songs were already written throughout that near-decade delay.

Captain guitarist Corey Millett's super-tech guitar playing is just as good as it ever was, if not even better this time. On the band's Anthropophagi EP the band didn't stray far away at all from peer bands like Beneath the Massacre and Trigger the Bloodshed (mostly talking about TtB’s first album only), and essentially operated as a shameless clone of such. This time Millett's guitars trade in drawn-out breakdowns for more satisfying technical riffage and when he's not playing brutal death-influenced grooves, he's at least filling out the silence with some high-end buzzing. The similarities to Beneath the Massacre in the technical department are still apparent and the breakdowns are still here, but they feel a lot less deathcore when they're performed, usually reduced to just small palm muted chugs that serve as an interlude instead of huge event that the entire track bases itself around. Also, the album contains a few slams ("Acid Cloud") and guitar solos as well ("Enigmatic Infection" and "Machines of Malice").

Vocals are the one thing that have changed the least. It's still just the same deathcore-influenced growl that the band have always used. While the vocals aren’t bad, it however is not all that special. Vocalist gets the job done, but that’s about it. No impressive gutturals or pig squeals here, just a powerful throaty growl from start to end. In contrast to the vocals Joey Glover however is even more amazing than he was before, a blast machine that provides tons of life to these whirlwinds of riffs. This band would be nothing without him and Millett.

Now here’s where the turning point in the review rears its head. After the few times I heard this album I could never previously pinpoint why exactly I felt like their debut EP is still superior and more fun. When track 6 started up that’s where it hit me: this band gets really boring after you listen to their material for about more than 20 consecutive minutes. The same formula performed over and over again song by song just becomes uninteresting. Whereas their four song EP is just enough material to keep the listener happy from start to end before they grow tired of hearing the repetitive nature of the band, this same formula applied to a 12-track album, however, does not work as well. Over 40 minutes of this kind of material just isn't as appealing as it is in small doses. The group simply do not have enough tricks up their sleeve or riffs in their arsenal to create a fully interesting opus, and that’s the most disappointing thing this record has going for it.

Despite the pros like the addition of solos and the occasional slam, this album kind of suffers for not retaining to what made the band originally great and entertaining to begin with, and it also suffers from well, just being a full-length album I guess. Applaud the Impaler’s unique blend of technical brutal death metal with deathcore elements worked better when the deathcore in their style was more prevalent. They took away too much of their fun ingredient and I feel like that was kind of their biggest mistake. The album isn’t bad, and while it does contains some great tracks which I had a ton of fun with like "Mung Farm" (arguably the best song on the album) I just still have to say I prefer listening to Anthropophagi instead.