Reclaimer

The band's logo is about as bad as their music. This is horrid, overrated deathcore, leaving almost no entertainment value behind the idea of a deathcore inspired by sci-fi first person shooter video games and loads of synthesizers would work. Let's start with the basic stuff: if generic shred deathcore came conventionally as a product that couldn't feel anymore plastic, this would be it. I cannot find a single moment of enjoyment in this. The cheesy symphonic synthesizers layered behind faux guttural growls, boring riffs and a production job so overly done that I can't even help but feel like this is essentially about as clinical and clean as deathcore can possibly sound. In general, this is some of the most computerized-sounding music I've ever heard to ever come forth the entire metal genre or spectrum. Just when I think things can't get any worse from the first track alone, then clean vocals come in... you're... you're kidding right?

Deathcore is a genre I've always loved; death metal ferocity coupled with metalcore's brutal breakdowns and growl/scream vocals was always a recipe that worked well to please my ears, and while there are a couple worthwhile new deathcore bands such as Within Destruction, AngelMaker or Walking Dead on Broadway; all 3 of which put out excellent albums this and last year, the genre is still detonating rapidly with most of the other newer bands just turning worse and worse and Shadow of Intent can easily be proclaimed as the tumor of all these horrid newschool groups that will never live up to the greatness of what their deathcore elders Annotations of an Autopsy, Whitechapel, I Declare War, Carnifex or Suicide Silence did 10 years ago. Those bands made magic back in the day, and contrasting it to what we have now is just an insult to that legacy. I'll probably never see why Shadow of Intent being as what is essentially a terrible Facebook deathcore band has gotten the hype they have. Their music is awful;. and not interesting-awful either, the band is BORING awful, which is even worse. I cannot remember a single riff, a single breakdown or a song that I would deem "worthwhile" from this tedious-as-fuck hour long snorefest released as a "album". The concept of the band seems to be just as lazy as their ProTooled MIDI programmed music comes across to be as well, the lyrical concept here seems to be about the Halo video game franchise. Now I'm currently trying to hold back my bafflement that the band would actually stoop this low to self-parody as this, but apparently that's where they draw their inspiration from. A one dimensional video game series really suits a one denominational band that can't seem to innovate any ideas or even so much as draw a single worthwhile riff besides just trying to shred as much as they can between linking breakdowns after breakdowns, which also never seem to be enjoyable. If a deathcore band can't even seem to get their bread and butter right (the breakdowns) then you have ultimately failed as a deathcore band.

The vocals are probably the most annoying part of the whole music (besides the synthesizers). This vocalist is WAY too high in the mix, he drowns out the band's boring riffs as a means to possibly inflate his ego. He sounds like he's attempting his best Phil Bozeman or Dan Watson impression, but fails to captivate any of the charm or charisma that either of them have.
I do not know who provides the clean vocals, I assume it's him. If it is him, then by god I can't even express the desire I feel to tell him to "shut the fuck up" when he sings than any other moment on here.

Some guest vocals are present, the vocalists of some currently popular deathcore bands: Ingested, Infant Annihilator, Lorna Shore and Slaughter to Prevail show their faces (or eh... voices) on here and it's relieving to hear somebody else growl for a second, but it still doesn't change how out of place they feel when the music they're growling over nothing more than just cheesy symphonic shredcore. I also hate 2 out of the 4 bands that these four vocalists are a part of, so that also doesn't help. The main vocal bro's screams are nothing you haven't heard before, not to mention way too high in the mix just like everything else that comes out of his mouth. Everything about this album was seemingly constructed merely to be awful, and the brief moments that aren't seem to be entirely accidental. The fact that this album even exists disgusts me as a fan of music. This is overpolished, overhyped plastic deathcore that tries so hard to be something more than what it is and it makes it all the more terrible. I heavily recommend you steer clear of this, and instead seek out some of the more classic deathcore acts that released albums around 2006 - 2010. If you somehow find enjoyment in Shadow of Intent then I have to say I'm sorry, you are a fool and you need to start listening to better deathcore.