QUICKIE REVIEW OF AN UNSIGNED BAND – DISSECT THE CORONER
I usually check out the MySpace page of a band I’m reviewing before I do the actual review, so that I know what to expect when I click on the first track. For some reason, I didn’t do that this time, so I was wholly unprepared for the music that I was about to hear.
Which is why I was both surprised and confused when I listened to the first two tracks of Dissect the Coroner’s demo.
My Introduction” is 45 seconds of chopped-up minor riffs mixed with various sound effects, so I was expecting something along the lines of melodic death metal. And the first proper track, “Waiting for the Flood,” did, at first, appear to be sort of melodic death metal, although there are distinct thrash and metalcore influences along with the melodeath. Then the song kind of switched to a more generic pattern of deathcore, laden with breakdowns, bass drops, and muffled vocals. It was generic, but it was by no means as bad as some other deathcore I’ve heard (read: Oceano, Whitechapel, etc.). But then the band changed on me again, switching to a more metalcoreish feel before again diving right back into the deathcore. And to be honest, metalcore is kind of refreshing after hearing all these terrible breakdowns in the new wave of deathcore.
Anyways, the band basically continues along that path throughout the demo, mixing deathcore and metalcore while also throwing bits of other genres into the whole equation. It’s really not bad. The mix is very good. The two vocalists, who happen to be brothers (Sam and David Forbert), stick to an almost Animosity-ish mid-range muffled growl most of the time. Guitarists Jared Denham and Brent Terebinski are undoubtedly skilled, although I do wish there were more solos. And I can actually hear Nathan Burkitt’s bass, which always is fun.
On the whole, Dissect the Coroner are pretty good. Definitely check them out if you have a thing for either deathcore or metalcore. But if they shift away from the characteristics of today’s generic deathcore, they have the potential to be huge.
-DM
