Greyscale Records & Pale Chord
April 26
Every once and a while I get sent an album to review, and I get told it from a mate’s kid, but please don’t hold back. Luckily, I rarely hold back, and it ain’t my mate, and therefore not my mate’s kid. So, it’s game on Diamond Construct, let’s see what ya got!
The opening track, Hashira, makes me nervous with its synth intro and then weird techno-metal mix. Wow, this is unusual. It’s like Metalcore Dubstep … or at least, that’s how I can best describe it. There is a lot going on as the songs shifts between riff and sample, mid-riff.
I’ve been given no information about the band, so I have no idea what instruments are involved, and if there is a DJ/Sampler or if it’s all just backing tracks. They only appear to be a four-piece though, so I’m guessing Vox, Guitar, Bass, Drums and backing tracks. I could be very wrong, though.
Jinx is up next, and it is much of the same. Not so frantic this time around though, and there is a little more air while the heavy guitar chugs keep the song’s rhythm. A few clean lyrics punch through here and there in between the guttural growls. Heavy as fuck track!
Maybe things will get a bit brighter with the next track, Neon. Nah, it’s pretty dark still, but it does pull back a bit in the verses which are mostly samples with spoken rap lyrics. This carry-on goes on for a little longer than I would have liked, but eventually they lift their game again, and we start to hear some guitars and screams. This one is way too heavy on the samples and programming for my liking though.
Here we go, Zodiac Memories doesn’t fuck around too much and instantly resembles some kind of rocking core tune. Maybe slightly more hardcore than metalcore this time around, though. The samples and programming have seemed to mostly disappear in this track, but not entirely. They’re still in there, but only poke their head out to compliment the band’s heavy riffs and rhythms. Some call-response vocals that occur during the track make me believe that someone else in the band is taking on backing vocals.
Hopefully that’s the case anyway and they aren’t just overdubs which will end up being backing tracks in the live environment, like I’m sure the outro to the track will be.
Faded is up next, but the heaviness sure hasn’t faded. Well, at least until the verse starts and the band all of a sudden sound like a heavy version of Linkin Park. There is a ton of clean vocals in this one, and the choruses are almost too pretty for the heaviness which has preceded this album so far. Samples and programming again make their way into the track for the interlude, and eventually it fucks off to make way for a heavy as fuck breakdown passage.
Chuggaa Chugga Squeal Squeal is the best way to describe the intro to Switchblade OST ,which once it settles, becomes another heavy-spoken rap song. There’s obviously some hip hop and electronica influences heavily pushing through in this band. Remember that dubstep album that Korn did? It’s kinda like that but the metalcore version of it, deathcore even. I’d give you a metalcore or deathcore band as reference, but I don’t have much time for any kind of core so the million bands doing it at the moment fail to hold any relevance or reference for me.
A funky little sampled intro kicks off Delirium, which rocks away for a little before another quick spoken rap pre-verse. Then it gets heavy again, and the riffs start weaving in and out of the samples, although I might be mistaking some tricky guitar licks with samples. It’s a bit hard to tell though as the tone is very much overproduced and sounds very digital. The formula works, but it is getting a little tired and overused for a non-core, non-dubstep, old fucker like me.
Hell Inside Me again has me confused between samples and guitar licks, but either way there is still a shit ton of programming happening throughout this track. There is also a ton of bass, and the bass tone is absolutely killer. It’s the first time I’ve noticed, maybe because it’s been pushed through a little more on this track, or maybe because I’ve been too busy trying to make sense of all the samples. Actually, it might be a mix between actual bass tone, and samples/programmed bass. The outro to the song confirms this for me as it becomes a dance track.
Wow, I Don’t surely smacks you in the face with its intense instant heaviness. Again, though, it becomes a rap track over drum programming. The breakdown which shortly follows though is fucken intense and fucking low. They’ve obviously chucked some kind of detune on for that section, as it’s so low I’m pretty sure it’s the brown note. I also may or may not have just shit myself. We’ll confirm that once I finish this review and I’m able to stand up and check my pants.
Two to go, and next up is Clickbait. Jesus, it starts like a Justin Timberlake song, and then it gets fucking heavy, and then it goes all JT again. I get what they are doing, but I don’t feel this is necessary. The core girls with a hidden love for The Veronicas and Avril Lavigne will probably love this super commercial one though. I guess it is their end of album ballad …
You Want This Scene Shit completes the album, and it’s pretty damn heavy. So damn heavy even that the rhythmic chugs sound like machine gun blasts. It only lasts for about 2 minutes before it turns into a programmed outro with some chick’s voice that we’ve heard a couple of times already through the album. Maybe it’s Avril?
This is not really my thing, but the core & scene kids will fucking love it. The production is fucking mint, and it’s chaotic enough for the listener to not even care what is going on while they slip into an epileptic dubstep fit. For a sophomore release, it’s not a bad effort at all!
