This is the third album from French deathcore crew Deep in Hate, and my first taste of their sound. Forming in 2004, they apparently started out as a straight up death metal band with grind influences, before the call of the core became too much for them to ignore any longer, and they capitulated – the chunky riffage flowing forthwith.
These guys are super tight and super downtuned. Their sound is enveloped with a super polished sheen, with the clickety clackety overtriggered bass drums following the syncopated guitar rhythms with Fear Factory-esque precision. The vocals are guttural, with Matthieu bellowing one moment, before switching to an affable raw throated rasp. Oh, and of course – this is death core, so there are the obligatory breakdowns and bass drops scattered throughout. However, for me, ‘Chronicles of Oblivion’ leaves me generally cold. The sound is SO sterile and over-produced, it’s hard to engage – particularly when you’re left with nothing but rhythms to sink your teeth into for the lion’s share of the album. When there are bursts of melody, or stabs at something which is more rangy than chug/bass drop/chug/growl formula (such as in ‘The Unheard Prayers’, which actually rattles out some decent deathly riffage, and some enjoyable melodious solo work), it seems few and far between from the constant low chugging which makes up most of the album.
A prime example of what this album serves up can be found in ‘The Divide’. Bar the odd stabs at disharmony, and crazy grind-like spazz out moments which recall the likes of Brain Drill, the riffage is almost entirely made up of open chugging and bland rhythm work. Rhythm can only hold my attention for so long, and the super in-your-face drum sound that they employ was beginning to erode my sanity at the end of every listen. I’ll always give a fair crack of the whip with multiple listens just in case I miss something which isn’t instant first or second time around – but there was nothing new to be found here upon each and every playback unfortunately).
I didn’t hate this, I just found it painfully perfunctory. It serves its purpose for those who get off on rhythmic, crushingly over-produced deathcore. But who wants to just serve a purpose? Why be average when you can go out and grab the listener by the throat, tell a story in music, or make a listener feel alive with your sound. This merely made me wish I was listening to something better instead.
(4/10 Lars Christiansen)
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