We Are Triumphant Records

Review 015: Decayer – “End Note”

This album was released on May 24th, 2019 on We Are Triumphant Records.

From the beginning of the opening track “Face Value”, End Note was bound to be a heavy-as-balls album. The first fifty-four seconds are already pretty relentless and lead into “Finding Purpose”, which introduces Harrison Burkardt’s throat-annihilating vocals, and never lets up. The thing about this album though is that this is more than a cookie-cutter deathcore album (we all know the stereotypes that come with the name of the genre). The topics of this album deal with several hardships in one’s life, dealing with them as they present ourselves to us, and overcoming them through perseverance, dedication, and finding one’s self-worth. The instrumentals aren’t anything to scoff at either. Employing a mixture of metalcore, deathcore, and melodic death metal influences, the album’s sound varies enough to keep you on your toes. Overall, this is a great deathcore album, and Decayer knocked their debut record out of the park.

The album clocks in at just over thirty minutes, so it’s easy to assume that the heaviness would be piled on in droves throughout the entirety of the record. If you thought that, you weren’t wrong! Save for the opening track and “The Cycle Ends”, which are both interludes, each song brings a different approach to heaviness, whether it be the instrumentals building up to a MASSIVE breakdown (“Acid Teeth”) or constant blast beats and frenetic guitarwork (practically the entire album). This isn’t a detriment to the album; it sets itself apart by creating a gloomier atmosphere as the album progresses. The darkness and despair portrayed by the music with the lyrics full of passion and grit make for a unique dichotomy that is seldom seen in this particular strain of music.

As far as the vocal performance goes, Satan himself could’ve lent guest vocals and he wouldn’t have been out of place on any of the tracks. The range switches from pig squeals and gutturals to screeching highs in a matter of seconds, and his vocal performance is one of the better deathcore outings of the past several years. One thing that stood out was the clean choruses, first introduced in “Finding Purpose” and spread sparsely throughout the rest of the album. For elitists, this is an immediate turn-off for the album, and I can see where they are coming from. It is such a drastic contrast from the blistering mood already set that it almost doesn’t make sense to have singing in the mix. I personally think the singing works, however, and adds a stark dichotomy to the overall atmosphere of the album. Lyrically, Burkardt is sharp with his topics, and told a story that, even though incomprehensible at first, makes sense within the context of writing. Dealing with personal experiences, everything was left in the music, and the transparency adds a new dimension to this album, separating it from other deathcore records.

Overall, when it comes to standard deathcore albums (Chelsea Grin, Thy Art Is Murder, etc.), there isn’t much variation. We can all gawk at how crazy the vocalist sounds or how the band added a cool panic chord in a chorus to amplify the technicality of it all (don’t hate me, guitarists, I know that panic chords aren’t too technical). Decayer managed to subvert that trope that’s kept deathcore stagnant and created a very honest, very real album that is a great way to kick off their full-length discography.

Rating: 8/10

Favorite Songs: “Finding Purpose”, “Acid Teeth”, “End Note”

Review 014: WVNDER – “Nothing Stays”

This album was released on May 17th, 2019 on We Are Triumphant Records.

Andy Cizek has a knack for talent. From his solo covers on YouTube (that Sumerian audition still holds a special place in many hearts) to his last album with Makari just last year, the young man stays busy. The band he was in before he joined Makari, however, has been mostly inactive since the release of Precipice in 2016. As stated by the band, they haven’t played a show together in two years (at the time of this review) as well. Why did WVNDER sit on the backburner for so long? Regardless of what the answer to this question is, their new album Nothing Stays sits as their most mature release to date, and is able to show a progression that’s both natural and necessary for the band after the time they had off.

When “Fairytale” starts, the album already takes an approach that sounds like something off of Hyperreal, Cizek’s last album through Makari. There’s a grittier approach to his vocals on this project than his previous albums, and with his voice being at the front of the mix (a common theme with Cizek’s music), it really gives his improved style time to shine. Screams are featured sparsely throughout the course of the album, and when they are performed, they are mostly in place to solidify the emotion being presented throughout the first two acts of the song. Using screaming techniques during the final crescendo of several songs added to the vocal performance and overall ability of Cizek. There’s also a pseudo-rap section on “The Mess You Made” that just adds to Cizek’s dynamic range on this record.

The instrumental performance on this album is a mixture of pop punk and post-hardcore, which is already a deterrent to any band that tries to sound different (most bands who describe their music like this add screaming to light pop punk and label it post-hardcore), but where most bands implement this simple formula, WVNDER adds a more alternative rock approach to their background. This gives the album a dreamscape-like ambience and opens up for Cizek to shine on vocals. The drums are back in the mix, but they add just enough to keep the guitars soaring through the time signatures. The dynamics also change frequently throughout the course of Nothing Stays, as slower, ballad-like tracks lend themselves to soaring choruses and calm verses. There’s more of a peaceful presence on this album than on Precipice, and that may be due to the outside direction that led to the creation of NS, but there is still a mastery here that deserves to be paid attention to.

If you are a fan of Andy Cizek, Makari, or practically any post-hardcore / alternative rock / swancore band, Nothing Stays will have something for you. The influence taken for the creation of this album added a lot of different sounds to the overall structure and soundscape of the record, and although not as technical as Precipice, there’s still a lot to take in with this album, and hopefully that includes a future past the Nothing Stays, which sounds like some possible foreshadowing.

Rating: 8/10

Favorite Songs: “Artorias”, “Hourglass”, “Nothing Stays”