Originally written for Destructive Music, in September 2012.
» For some people’s delight and other’s despair, dubcore is growing big. Personally, I don’t like the style, but that doesn’t mean these bands, or at least some of them, aren’t talented. And this one in particular, BEYOND ALL RECOGNITION, seems to have something good going on here.
First, the dubstep featured in their sound – by the hands of Fredrik “Alexius” Eklund – is the old school type, using minor keys rather than middle registers, meaning it’s darker rather than aggressive. The aggression is left to the metalcore part, which isn’t just any metalcore either – being Swedish, you can feel the influence of their country’s wave of melodic death metal (listen to the guitars in “Smoke And Mirrors”, for instance). Singer David Söhr puts the melodic part aside often though, reaching that deep growl of classic death metal and grindcore. Most of the times the growling comes out in a medium harsh pitch, but never clean, as sometimes metalcore bands do. The only clean voice you’ll hear here belongs to SOILWORK’s Björn “Speed” Strid, who’s featured in “Brace Yourselves”. Oh, and the gang vocals in the first three tracks, I guess that can also be considered clean.
Speaking of guests, “True Story” also has one – Dennis Andersson from metalcore band THE DRAKE EQUATION. But his is also a harsh, growling tone which combines itself with Söhr’s, not contrasts against it.
They’re very straightforward in terms of impact, so their songs are short, between 2’35 and 3’20. The opening track, “Characters”, was chosen for a promotional video released two months ago, as it has parts where the dubstep melts into one with the metalcore, but also where each of the genres is very distinct. Therefore, the listener can appreciate the full potential of the band’s sound.
This album is heavy through and through, but I think it’s fair to say that “What We’ll Die To Defend” is the heaviest track. As for “B*tch Please”, it has the most electronic vibe, as its last minute is all about that.
And “End Of Recognition” has a few puns in its title. Being the last track, it is the “end” of the album. And “recognition” is more than the band’s name. This is an eight-minute instrumental track, dubstep to its core, so even if we had glimpses of it in the nine previous tracks, one would never recognise it as a BEYOND ALL RECOGNITION song. If you’re a fan of the genre in its pure state, you might consider it a kind of a bonus track and actually like it. If not, consider “Drop = Dead” a 9-track album that finishes with “Legends”, a track whose last minute is also instrumental, but unlike “B*tch Please”, the dubstep element gives a ride to the metal one and it does sound like a good finale to this debut full-length. «
Label: Napalm Records
Producer: Dino Medanhodzic
Tracklist:
- Characters
- What We’ll Die To Defend
- True Story
- Drop = Dead
- Arriving With The Sun
- Brace Yourselves
- Smoke And Mirrors
- B¨tch Please
- Legends
- End Of Recognition
- Smoke And Mirrors (Dirty N Twisted Remix) (bonus track)
Front Row Forever 