And the Maggots Shall Inherit the Earth

Well this is a very well hidden gem. I discovered this band by accident looking for a band with a similar name. I decided to download the album as it was short and it wouldn't take up much of my time even if I didn't like it. How glad I am that I did. This is extremely enjoyable melodic death metal/metalcore.

Like I said before, this album is short. Just over 19 minutes. I've had grindcore albums longer than that. It's really a shame it's this length, because it leaves you kind of wanting more.

This album is packed with tasty riffs, like the one at the start of "The Revenant Consumes: The Widows Curse". These are pretty thrashy melodic riffs like ones you'll find in AtG's Slaughter of the Soul. They're really catchy riffs, and will certainly make you bang your head at least a little. There aren't a lot of solos, but the ones that are in there (for example: in "The Darkness Unveiled: Beneath the Scorched Remains of Corpses") are solid.

The drumwork is solid, but nothing outstanding. It merely does it's job of keeping the pace with nice little beats and fills.

The bass work is also prominent, which is rare in any metal made after 2000, but it does nothing interesting, but is refreshing to hear it.

Naturally, being metalcore, there are breakdowns, but they're not your typical "chug chug" crap that drag on for a while. They're short, heavy and tastefully used (think Suffocation as opposed to Emmure)

Onto the vocals and lyrics, they're typical metalcore. Low growls (not quite death metal lows, but still deeper than say, Killswitch Engage), higher pitched screams and clean singing. The vocalist switches between his styles often and flawlessly, keeping it interesting. The lyrics are incredibly and surprisingly well-written. They kind of make this sound like a concept album about the world ending (a lyrical theme that's been done to death in metal), but they're worded almost perfectly. A big plus in my books, as very often I find metalcore lyrics horribly written. There are a few gang shouts (more akin to Anthrax than any lame scene kid deathcore band)

As brilliant as this album is, it isn't perfect. This album is WAY too short. Keep 19 minute albums to grindcore bands, guys. If this was longer, it would've been absolutely perfect, but due to the short running time, it's not. Another problem is the lack of solos. This would have definitely been better with more solos (they may have brought the running length up by a minute or two)

It's a shame this band split up, as this could be worked on and they could've done a longer album just as good (if not better) than this. However, this is still a quaity release and well worth 19 of your minutes. I highly recommend this if you don't mind metalcore mixed with melodeath. If you do, well, listen anyway. It might be your only exception