Destruction 412
Self Titled
5
Playing a blend of groove oriented nu-metal and straightforward New York hardcore, Destruction 412 presents on their self-titled debut one of the blandest recordings I have come across in quite some time. Musical ineptitude, lyrical stupidity, and a complete lack of compositional foresight: it’s all here on this five song demo. I really can’t imagine why anyone would want anything to do with this band.
The album stars with the vocalist stating the following:
I’m sick of all these wannabe faggots/
acting like they’re some hard ass punks/
why you always gotta be talking shit/
2,3,4, BLAAARGH!!!
What ensues is a deluge of Korn meets Hatebreed inspired riffing that does a hell of a lot more to bore than to brutalize. Granted, there is a lot to be said for a simple and knuckleheaded groove. See bands like All Shall Perish or Cryptopsy for examples of some well played pit pounders. Hell, you could even listen to some of Korn and Hatebreed’s finer moments if you wanted something simple to bang your head to. But, not these guys. This Otep-ian, this is Machine Head at their very worst, this would make Soulfly blush.
There are a few scattered moments on this album that show glimpses of potential. There is the production, which is pretty hefty. But, there’s not a hell of a lot going on here musically, so I can’t imagine it was too hard to capture the true essence of this band in the studio. "Downfall" has some interestingly placed harmonics that at least try to break up the overall monotony of the song. “Brutality” features some cool driving double-bass that coincides with a pretty interesting breakdown. I mean, this could have been a strong capitulation, but instead it just gets lost in the overall flatness of the composition. I mean, when you haven't put in the work to write a halfway interesting riff, you really don't deserve the right to play a simple breakdown. It's like, having your dessert, before you finish dinner. Brutality is fun, but not when it is this forced.
I’m sorry, I just don’t care for nu-metal/hardcore hybrids, especially, nu-metal/hybrids that are of this poor a quality. And, I’m pretty sure that anyone who frequents this site pretty much feels the same. That being said, I cannot recommend this album to anyone with a clean conscience.
