Metalcore is in transition. An exciting underground force in the 90s, its breakthrough in the ’00s permanently segregated the genre into two or three distinct groups: one, spearheaded by Killswitch Engage, charged straight into commercial viability to mixed results, spawning as many excellent melodeath-inspired acts as it did “scenecore,” which unfortunately became the face of the genre. Another group hung onto the angularity of the ’90s and rallied behind Converge, Botch, Coalesce, and The Dillinger Escape Plan, leading to metallic hardcore and mathcore; while the third group, also indifferent to the European influence, toughed it out alongside Shai Hulud into a future of melodic hardcore. It’s a far more diverse genre than the scenecore groups make it out to be, and it can seem like a major semantic reach to suggest that KEN Mode, At All Cost, and Counterparts occupy the same genre niche. It’s easier to think that metalcore was an embarrassing phase, over and done. It isn’t that, and never was. More and more bands are returning to the genre’s roots to recapture the creative spark of Integrity, Deadguy, and Undying--bands like Sanction, Dwell, Drawing Last Breath, Renounced, and, of course, Axis are writing as if the last seventeen years of “synthcore” and In Flames ripoffs never happened, and little by little, are restoring the genre’s credibility. This may seem like an unnecessary preamble to the album at hand, but it’s important to recognize the context in which Axis find themselves with Shift: following a period in which the genre lost its way, they have arrived at precisely the right time. But to do what? Start the record. “Shift I” is an eerie bit of guitar noise meant to carry us in and drop us at the feet of “Fear and Impulse,” an all-business metalcore ripper consisting of propulsive riffs, crunchy breakdowns, and vocalist Dylan Downey’s manic vocals. The destructive jaggedness of Norma Jean’s Bless the Martyr, Kiss the Child is on full display here and all the way through “Sovereign,” “Solipsism,” “Parasitic Eye,” and “Faith.” The ghost of Kiss It Goodbye is at work in the album’s thick, sludgy tone and relentless assault. There’s not a lick of melody in earshot, which goes for the rest of Shift, too: every track is an exercise in rhythmic intensity and unease, the sort of music best described with comparisons to knives, blunt objects, and bodily harm--piercing dissonance, sledgehammer riffs, and throat-gouging screams are the order of the day. It’s no stretch to say that it’s neck-and-neck with All Out War’s Give Us Extinction and Darkest Hour’s Godless Prophets & The Migrant Flora for the nomination of most vicious metalcore album of the year. But for all its strengths, the most glaring issue with Shift is the one that keeps it from greatness: homogeneity. Axis seem to write in two distinct modes with two distinct sets of characteristics that are rarely, if ever, allowed to mingle--it would be too easy to sort the tracks into two columns and come out to an even split. There are the riff-a-thon tracks like “Fear and Impulse” and “Faith,” which brim with panic chords and eruptive breakdowns; and then there are the ominous, midtempo stompers that borrow from sludge and doom. These are songs like “Ravine” and “Soma,” which, not incidentally, occupy the back half of the album. In isolation, every track is an excellent example of what modern metalcore can be when it decides to get serious. Axis know their way around a nasty metalcore groove, and on first listen, it’s thrilling. Subsequent listens see Shift gradually losing steam. Don’t get the wrong idea. Especially for its time, which is right now, Shift is an impressive record that knows where it is and what it’s doing, and Axis are one of the most assured-sounding bands I can think of in the current hardcore/metalcore landscape; the confidence with which they attack back-to-back behemoths “Solipsism” and “Parasitic Eye” is simply awesome, constituting an early highlight of the record, and a highlight of the year in metalcore. These songs are Axis operating at maximum potential, invoking the spirit of Bremen’s legendary Acme--no small compliment; they’re a personal favorite--as they fire off riff after riff. It’s cold-blooded, violent, and relentless; the kind of stuff that makes me genuinely excited for the future of the band. Although it suffers from some pacing issues, the second half of Shift can be suffocatingly heavy as it launches one slow, sludge-flecked dirge after the other in succession. The short runtimes don’t matter; the album just seems to gain mass and density, gathering energy like a thundercloud. The return of the eerie riff from “Shift I” on “Shift II” lends the album an appreciable sense of continuity, and we brace ourselves in expectancy of some killing blow, but “The Tightrope” is a curveball: a return to the speedier riffage of the first half and a more overtly hardcore sound, it brings Shift to such a sudden end that I had to double-take and start the album over. Axis’s first album, Show Your Greed, took me by surprise with its blend of moshy hardcore and nods to powerviolence. Shift isn’t a major leap forward from that record by any means, and so isn’t really a surprise; but at the end of the day, it can’t be denied that, despite their similarities and a couple of new issues, Shift is an improvement. It’s a more inventive and interesting record than its predecessor, and works well as an example of what metalcore can be now that the genre’s growing pains are behind us. I’m ready for whatever Axis do next. -Brian L.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Metal LifestyleOwner Operator: Dakota Gochee Coming Soon:
|