RAFFLESIA REMIND US WHY WE HAVE A LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH METALCORE
Here’s the thing: trends suck because even if all the trend-followers are aping an artist who did something cool, you inevitably become so sick of that particular trend that it makes it hard to remember what was good about it in the first place (see: punk, industrial, snap bracelets). But as far as trends go, metalcore is a pretty decent one, and while there’s absolutely nothing even remotely original about Belgium’s Rafflesia, they do so much right on their new album Embrace the Final Day that it’s hard to fault them for being the trillionth band this decade to specialize in chug-a-chug riffs and skull splitting breakdowns. Like Bloodjinn, Rafflessia forgo clean vocals in favor of death-flavored demonic howls, and borrow a trick or two from the Swedes (who else?) to give their music an epic sense of scope; in fact, their best song may be the instrumental “Box Nr. 8,” which sounds like the soundtrack for a pretty kick-ass horror movie.
Put another way: Rafflesia may be the latest in a long line of trend followers, but they’re still better than In This Moment, blessthefall, and Nights Like These all put together.
-AR
