Total Domination

Admittedly, I've warmed up to deathcore in the last couple of months. I no longer puke while listening to Suicide Silence or Annotations of an Autopsy, and Whitechapel has actually become one of my favorite modern death metal acts. So, for the first time in my life, I was able to review a deathcore album without any personal bias against the genre – I consider that quite an achievement actually!

Well, crap aside, this band - Moker can play some real brutal shit. This isn't pure brutal death metal at all, but it sorts of blurs the line between slam death and deathcore, though the deathcore elements are probably more prominent here. The songs do tend to revolve around the breakdown aspect of the music, but they can actually write real fucking songs instead of just throw in random speedy riffs in between the breakdowns. But the main thing here is how they've managed to really up the brutality here, despite the flat production which lacks the pummeling effect that the likes of Internal Suffering and Prostitute Disfigurement have. Like Suicide Silence, Moker have a tendency to incorporate melody into their music at the strangest times, and with great effect. Vocals here are kind of all over the place, but I'm not complaining. Perhaps my favorite part about this album is the horror-tinged guitar riffs that kind of evoke the same feeling in me as Impetigo or Autopsy do, albeit in an entirely different fashion.

While the actual music is pretty offensive, the cover art, lyrics, song titles and production make this album very accessible to be honest. With song titles like “As I Stalk My Prey” you get the impression that the band is holding themselves back. Thankfully that's not the case here, but still, a gore junkie like me would have liked some filthiness in the lyrics to back up the sheer brutality of the music. But whatever, this is a fine album and deathcore and brutal death metal fans alike would do well to pick this up.

(originally written for archaic-magazine.com)