Camilla Rhodes
Like The Word Love on The Lips of a Harlot
6.4
The Canadians have impressed me with a fair share of their (death/metal/tech/hard core acts (The End, In Dying Days, Thine Eyes Bleed, Ion Dissonance, Despised Icon and such) and so here saunters forth the oddly named Camilla Rhodes (taken from the David Lynch directed Mulholland Drive) with a slightly more mainstream and Americanized effort that’s less tech and agro and more straight up death sprinkled metalcore. It’s not spectacular but if you are a fan of With Dead Hands Rising, Glass Casket, Through the Eyes of the Dead, or Dead to Fall, this might be worth your while.
After a pretty standard by the numbers first few tracks (“Intro”, “If Dreams Are Like Movies, Then Memories Are Like Ghosts”, “Johnny Utah's On The Case”), Like the Word Love on the Lips of a Harlot actually picks things up around four tracks in with the lengthy “You've Changed The Color Of Autumn (To A Deeper Shade Of Red)” which has some dramatic harmonies amid the expected death metal inspired rumbling that has some resonance and depth above and beyond the genre's rapidly tiring cross pollination. Unfortunately the following track, “Good Fortune Means Nothing”, after a nice earthy start feels the need to inject some pretty weak clean vocals and acoustics into the mix. Cliché overload lads, but you do try to make amends with the track's extended breakdown at the end.
“Women And Children First” delivers another stout track free from extraneous niceties and concentrates on an ominous and solid head bobbing groove and more urgent pacing for its eventual peak. (Though I could have done without the grating squealing segment). More slightly uncommitted acoustic start “The Endless Chain Of Tedious Days”, though they are cut off abruptly by some caustic discordance, thunderous riffage and elegant melodies. It’s this hot/cold mix that makes Camilla Rhodes annoyingly middle tier. At times they seem stuck in this discordant metalcore rut that’s worn itself out and sounds rehashed (“A New England Holiday”, sample laden closer “Lost On The Way To The Light”), but at their best they can thrash and break it down with the best of the genre as heard on “You've Changed The Color Of Autumn (To A Deeper Shade Of Red)” and “The Endless Chain Of Tedious Days”. Vocally there’s not much new going on, it’s the usual scream/deep growl combo, and to be honest the production could have been better.
In a year that has seen spectacular releases from Despised Icon, Embrace the End, Between the Buried and Me, Animosity and Ion Dissonance, Camilla Rhodes just don’t measure up, even with a few highlights on this album. And frankly, I’m surprised a quality label like Galy would feel the need to dive into metalcore let alone with such a standard effort as this. Still, there is promise on Like the Word Love on the Lips of a Harlot that points towards better things with a little more individuality.
