Allegiance

Despite not caring for "deathcore" in the least, I decided to give "Allegiance" a listen, in the hope that As Blood Runs Black" might be a shining gem in a sea of mediocre acts.

I was wrong.

Throughout the 37 minutes this CD runs, I was checking my watch, often finding myself asking “didn’t I hear this before?”, mostly during the breakdowns. It’s no secret that an album should never feel longer than it actually is, and this album seemed to go by very slowly.

Anyway, moving on to the musical content, we start off with an introduction track, appropriately titled “Intro”. In the intro, we are treated to fast, high notes, drum fills followed by fast snare and double-bass action, and then a breakdown. This is basically how the entire album goes. The only real difference between the intro and the rest of the album is the lack of vocalist, which is probably a good thing. In retrospect, I probably could have listened to just the Intro, and saved myself 36 minutes.

The first four tracks (Intro, In Dying Days, My Fears Have Become My Phobias, Hester Prynne) go by at a snail’s pace, then we are treated to a melodic interlude, titled “Pouring Reign”. It is a soft song whose purpose eludes me. It’s a fine instrumental, but disrupts the flow of the listener, and would have better been placed as an outro, or intro. Despite it being out of place, it is a good song, but it shouldn’t have been three minutes long.

The next five tracks are more of the same, but “The Beautiful Mistake” stands out for it’s lyrical content, which is basically saying “I got dumped”. Such lyrics come off as whiny, and whining should not be tolerated in anything with even a remote connection to death metal, as deathcore often is. This song is clearly the worst of the album, though I did get a good laugh out of the intro, which features vocalist Chris Blair screaming “I looked into the eyes of a broken heart pride that’s made of stone!” Fairly amusing.

“Beneath the Surface” is another standout for the wrong reasons. At 3:30, the song stops, and I was relieved that I was on the final track. What I thought was the next song started, with a breakdown, and I thought “Isn’t that something? They started off with a break this time! Still repetitive, but at least it’s a change of pace.” Then, I looked down at my player to see that I was still on track nine. I was a bit bummed, and sat through another minute of the breakdown, before moving on to the highlight of the album, “Legends Never Die”. While not being substantially different from the rest of the album, the song is the most enjoyable on "Allegiance".

One thing I should address is the prowess of the musicians. They’re all very skilled at what they do, and should be commended. The guitarist can play, as can the bassist, even if you can only hear him in “Pouring Reign”, and the end of “Strife (Chug Chug)”. The drums are fantastic. I’m not sure if they’re triggered, though. I’m not a drummer, so I don’t know. Unfortunately, technical skill does not equal songwriting ability, which would explain the mediocrity of most of the songs on the album. The vocalist is rather dull, and typical of the genre. He’ll scream, growl, and do that trademark deathcore pig-squeal that’s so popular these days. It’s irritating, but it fits the music.

One final note about the vocalist, he starts chants quite a lot, especially near the end of the album. While I don’t mind chanting, the chants on this album are unintentionally laughable, and sound out of place. Not that big of a problem, but it bears mentioning.

This is clearly intended for deathcore fans. “Allegiance” is chock-full of low pig grunts, hardcore screaming, and has more breakdowns than you can shake a stick at. I doubt it’ll make a fan out of non-deathcore listeners, but if deathcore is your music, I highly recommend it. If deathcore isn’t your cup of tea, I’d advise against buying it.

Standout tracks: Legends Never Die, Pouring Reign

NOTE: Upon further listens, I have decided that my original score of 45 was too high and have lowered it as such.