The Ghost Inside were early proponents of a newly evolved strain of metalcore, which leaned a bit more to the energy of hardcore. Gideon took that sound a step backward with a desire to incite moshpits seeming to outweigh the need to write melodic songs.
However, while Gideon still maintained energy, the newest devolution comes from Those Who Fear, whose new album, Death Sentence, really serves as one for a genre that's reached its breaking point. The occasional bit of encouraging head-bobbing does not excuse an album of dragging drudgery. The band occasionally break out of this, with "The First Amendment," "Cop Out" and "86'd" upgrading the bobbing to banging. Still, an overdependence on breakdowns and preoccupation with brutality brings about a preponderance of banality that begins to resemble Emmure or a dumbed-down Legend.
Most of the album sounds like an intro but never reaches beyond, or even aspires to. This is the kind of band that would self-identify as beatdown, but breakdown would be a far more apt description. Breakdowns and the heaviness they entail should be a means to an end, not an end in itself; until Those Who Fear realize this, their hackneyed usage will drag the band down.
(Facedown)However, while Gideon still maintained energy, the newest devolution comes from Those Who Fear, whose new album, Death Sentence, really serves as one for a genre that's reached its breaking point. The occasional bit of encouraging head-bobbing does not excuse an album of dragging drudgery. The band occasionally break out of this, with "The First Amendment," "Cop Out" and "86'd" upgrading the bobbing to banging. Still, an overdependence on breakdowns and preoccupation with brutality brings about a preponderance of banality that begins to resemble Emmure or a dumbed-down Legend.
Most of the album sounds like an intro but never reaches beyond, or even aspires to. This is the kind of band that would self-identify as beatdown, but breakdown would be a far more apt description. Breakdowns and the heaviness they entail should be a means to an end, not an end in itself; until Those Who Fear realize this, their hackneyed usage will drag the band down.
