She Said Destroy

The debut album from Norway’s She Said Destroy gets this band started in the right place. They reference a comprehensive selection of influences and combine them into ten unique songs that shatter the confines of any and all particular traditions to pieces. The record opens with strange, driving polytechnics akin to Meshuggah’s layered puzzles accented by a guitar noodling that pays heed to the all-pervading legacy of Chuck Schuldiner. The Death-like melodic moments continue to make numerous appearances throughout the album, and they often reference a more obviously American death metal approach, summoning the classic demons of Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel, among others. The slower, less technical moments are reminiscent of Opeth, occasionally adding the vitriolic sting of Converge’s desperation with a bombastic black metal twist. A couple random Dillinger Escape Plan shred fests and a hint of the new school of European grind akin to Antigama makes for an imaginative and captivating musical expedition that sees every song differentiate itself from the last. She Said Destroy decisively prove that it is still possible to create something compelling on the foundations of those who came before you without sounding like a bunch of teenage wannabes.