The Fuckless

Jesus. Work was a disaster today. And I got my paycheck and I'm still not making enough money. I've only been able to work about 30 hours a week. I think I need an additional job. Hmm.

Well, at this particular time I feel moved to write about an album I liked.

I don't care for this album art. This is Akeldama from the The Faceless. Like Fallujah, who I covered not too long ago, the Faceless hail from California, as do a multitude of technical/brutal/progressive/noodle bands. I don't care for the bulk of those bands, nor am I exactly gaga over their followup, Planetary Duality, but Akeldama is pretty good.

So, to clarify my position on a few things: I don't really have that much against deathcore itself, rather most deathcore bands I've heard are completely disposable/interchangeable, as far as I'm concerned. With that out of the way, though, Akeldama has less to do with deathcore at all. Some have painted it as though around 2006, the Faceless were a precocious deathcore band trying to make a "real death metal" album. If anything, in 2006 the Faceless were a "real" death metal band which retained some vestigial deathcore tendencies because, to their credit, they know how to write songs that aren't built around enormous breakdowns and instead rely on dynamic, technical riffs as a means to bring about highly satisfying movements in their songs. Also, if two to three devastating breakdowns are enough to ruin a whole album for you, maybe you should lighten up a little. The highlight of this album clearly is the riffs, which are extremely catchy and bounce nicely between consonance and dissonance, as well as constantly maintaining a high level of activity without falling into the trap of being aimlessly technical sounding, like Necrophagist or, arguably, newer Decrepit Birth.

Akeldama has a sort of spontaneous creative flair to it. This manifests itself in a number of ways such as in the memorable keyboard lines or the clean vocals section on "Pestilence" or the quirky riffs. On this album it feels a lot more honest than their followup, which to me feels a little too telegraphed and conscious in its inclusion of "odd" parts. I still listen to it every now and then, which is more than I can say for Planetary Duality.



I'm le sleepy. I think I would have written more content or better content otherwise but fuck it. I think by virtue of me taking the time to write this, you will know I'm sincere in my recommendation of this album.


Buy their shi(r)t. Are the rest of the bands on Sumerian Records doodie? Possibly.

Akeldama

-W.F.

Hired

So, as I may have mentioned, I'm back to work at a grocery store I part-timed at for three years, and it is just uncanny how nothing has changed since I left (like how I'm the only person willing to clerk the bottle room and accept returnables) and quickly I'm picking everything back up. The pay isn't great and I'm not getting a lot of hours right now but the feeling of knowing that a paycheck is in my future is a relief, frankly.

Since I'm still drafting that 2011 Retrospective (yeah yeah, I know) and since I actually ended up working later than I was scheduled, I'm less interested in publishing that right yet. Here's something else.


Fallujah are an interesting band. A few years back, I liked Leper Colony (2009) enough to feature one or two tracks semi regularly on my radio show for a few months. Fuck if I remember what deathcore clearinghouse blog I found it on at the time. This was self-released. Basically, in addition to bringing a brutish, yet highly technical skill set to the table, Fallujah also managed to weave in a cold and strange sense of moroseness (hence where the "blackened" description of their music comes in). It's still a neat little EP that I listen to every now and then, even if some songs are a little bloated with dull single-note chug-fests. I'd still ultimately recommend it, that's for sure.

Anywho, in November they released a full length on Unique Leader (!!) called The Harvest Wombs. I've only listened to it maybe twice since then and I'm still on the fence about it (leaning positively). If you're into this current crop of technical, progressive West Coast death metal/deathcore, (Burning the Masses, The Faceless, et al), or Decrepit Birth (to whom many of these young bands would seem indebted to some degree) you'll definitely like it. If you're not crazy about that, the qualities that I found most interesting about them initial still ring true, for the most part. There is a certain knack for atmosphere this band has that a lot of their peers lack. The new album definitely cranks up the progressive riffometer up a few notches, which can be a little bit of a distraction for some. This is a noodle fest, like everyone showed up to the potluck with noodles.



Either way, it's cool to see this band getting more recognition and success. Give them your money.




Buy [Unique Leader]
Leper Colony
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Go fucking Patriots
-W.F.