Erek and Ivor

One might find it peculiar for an American band to sing about the sort of things Vanguard sings about. Battle, pillaging, executions, and adventure are prominent themes in Erek and Ivor, but the real kicker is it all falls under the umbrella of deathcore. I would be lying to you all if I said I wasn't put off a bit by their genre tag; deathcore certainly isn't a genre of choice with me, let alone symphonic deathcore. That alone sounded like a one-way ticket to audio suicide if I ever saw one, but I wasn't one to obtain music and not listen to it. A smart move, because I'll sum up Vanguard's Erek and Ivor in four short words: This is good deathcore.

I can only imagine the looks that assumed the faces of several readers. Regardless, those four words hold up admirably with this album. By the end of Erek and Ivor I was wholly satisfied, although somewhat puzzled. A conceptual album this most certainly is, but I had a hell of a time figuring out the influence or inspiration, so I coughed it up to being a fictional story – a story that seemed sloppily constructed and merely thrown together just for added appeal factor. Oh sure, there are plenty of spoken passages with some nice background 'nature' sounds and mellow acoustic and slow drumming, and those are perfect for progressing the story, but catching anything about it between said interludes is borderline impossible unless you can decipher the slightly easier to understand deathcore vocals – something I personally couldn't do. Be prepared to reference the lyrics on this site for the full effect, which actually reveals the story to be a rather violent telling of, who else, two men named Erek and Ivor.

Not off to a good start are we? On the contrary readers, the story is the weakest and most critical flaw this album has. The music itself is composed exceptionally well; I hear distinct skill in every member's playing, and the arrangement of songs and vocal monologues so that the story has a reasonable flow to it without killing the feel established by the music. The song By Night instantly creates a sound that cannot be described as anything other than epic – brought about entirely by the keyboards I might add. Indeed, the symphonic aspect of Vanguard is what really makes this album truly enjoyable. If we were to remove all traces of keys from Erek and Ivor, the remnants would be fairly average deathcore with slightly unusual lyrical themes.

And yet maybe not. On the actual songs (Rather than the spoken passages) there is a sense of professionalism amongst the band members; the drumming in particular actually has significant thought in it. Double bass molestation is very rare, and called for when it appears, while breakdowns are nonexistent, something I garner is quite rare amongst deathcore bands. The same goes for the guitars; there's a distinct lack of chugging, boring riffs replayed to death in every song. Complex solos and memorable, varying riffs grace us throughout. Finally the vocals – actual vocals and not those piss-annoying pig squeals some people love referring to as such, are indeed interesting. Einar switches between a very American sounding clean voice, a high pitched scream slightly reminiscent of black metal, and death growls with a moderately low pitch, but nothing approaching the level of pointless squealing.

When I said the story was the album's most critical flaw I wasn't lying, but Erek and Ivor have their fair share of minor problems. Not surprisingly, the bass is wholly inaudible, a fact that fails to surprise me most days, but the lack of audible bass irks some more than others. The generous amount of spoken passages was something I also sound tiresome, especially since the story was more or less not clicking or coming together. Five of the fifteen tracks are as such, and it hurts the overall flow of the album (Note, I mentioned above it didn't kill it, but we can injure something without it dying), although it is remedied some by the openers of the actual songs.

The deathcore generalization has lost some ground with this album. While the more-or-less unanimous dislike of the mainstream deathcore bands continues, there is one that goes against the rest. At Erek and Ivor's conclusion I was indeed satisfied with it, and I craved more. Noteworthy tracks include A Purpose Enacted, Death to a Sinful King, Aboard the Maelstrom, and Hands of Fate. I can't help but think this would have been an absolute killer of an album without the spoken interlude nonsense; however, no amount of wishing is going to change that. Erek and Ivor is solid, although I feel these folks preemptively shot themselves in the foot by playing deathcore in the first place. As adept as these musicians might be, I doubt they can singlehandedly bring this otherwise bastardized genre of metal up from the dredges of mediocrity and shit to a level of respect it may or may not deserve.

Bottom line: Don't let the genre deter you from this one.