Wretched

Wretched are one of those groups you want to hate, but just can't. Everything they put out is so slickly produced and so full of Auto-Tune-y growls that you want to write them off as just another modern-deathcore-whatever band. The trouble, of course, is that they're just so good. Wretched make the type of metal that melds together everything that came before, exemplifying the best traits of the genre since its inception. Wretched pull just about everything out of the metal toolbox: from thrash to death to metalcore to European symphonic harmonies and black metal frenzies. Son of Perdition continues the band's synthesis of everything heavy, pummelling through 11 tracks of suffocating aggression. The album is textured, nuanced and incredibly skilled. After opening with a choral number, Son of Perdition dives into five tracks of the kind of super-speed Wretched are known for. Midway through Son of Perdition, they stop for a three-part instrumental prog exercise that's part Dimebag Darrell, part Rush. You'd think this would bring down the album and create a lull, but it doesn't. Like everything else, these instrumental pieces are part of a fully realized metal magnum opus. Every note on this record shows a band at the peak of their abilities that can't help but make crushingly good metal.