Gorgeous

The ever-expanding Distort Entertainment’s latest release comes as yet another aggressive addition to the small but diverse catalogue from one of Ontario’s newer heavy music label/promotion projects. While there are some candy-coated vocal melodies and emotionally-driven moments, they are essentially another basic incarnation of what we’ve come to know as modern hardcore. Heavy chugs, a bit of fancy finger work and a few ten-ton hammer Southern licks comprise the bulk of their songs. Their music comes across as a mixture of contrived Botch, in the vein Every Time I Die’s shameless leeching, meets cleaner variations of High on Fire’s heavy Southern grooves melted into Most Precious Blood breakdown overload. The good amount of danceable material is ultimately a positive aspect to the music, but every song amounts to the same tired Lego-rock, having stacked pre-cut pieces into nice, tidy block figures and passing off as art. They’re neither untalented nor totally wretched, they’re just nothing special. Admittedly, the recent years of metal/hardcore explosion have sucked the life out of this genre and it’s easy to be extremely critical of bands who subscribe to the new status quo. The Gorgeous will most likely do well because people love what’s recognisable and easy to play with, not to mention what looks cool on their hoodie.