Mabus
Cheers, To Doomsday Gloom
4.6
Synopsis:
Yes, I am capable of writing a negative deathcore/spazzcore/metalcore review...
Review:
Just when I think I am going soft and generally enjoying all the spastic, chaotic, growling screaming, stomping, squealing, jazzy spurt laden craziness that hits these ears, along comes New York’s Mabus and displays that in fact there are horribly generic bands playing this saturated style.
Chaos for chaos’s sake appears to be the mantra of this noisy group, and the whole “HEY! LOOK HOW CRAAAAAAZY AND OFF THE WALL WE ARE WITH DILLINGER TECH SPASMS, JAZZ INTERLUDES AND DEEP DEATH METAL GROWLS!!!!!!!!” schtick is forced beyond belief and not even close to what The Number 12 Looks Like You or Lye By Mistake can conjure up and lacks the genuine songwriting chops to back it up.
Not one song from this album warranted further attention beyond review purposes; and I LIKE the genre. Only the requisite acoustic intro to mildly melodic track “No More Tricks, No More Lies” was remotely enjoyable despite being searingly cliched. The rest of the tracks are just like Mabus took every single riff and note from DEP, Converge, The Red Chord, Between the Buried and Me, stripped them of their individuality and spewed it out with out the slightest hint of cohesion. Yes, Mabus I hear your saxophone and bluesy singing for “Swingin’ In the Saterlee Grove”, my you are adventurous.. Yes, I hear your deep bellows and caustic discordant fits of “The Hangman’s Trampy Daughter, Truth”. And yes, I hear your introspective instrumental track “Canyons For Ribcages”. Oh, did anyone tell you that quirky song titles were sooooo last year?
Of course, these kids are skilled at their instruments, but what band plying this style isn’t nowadays? What makes the difference is dynamics and skillful songwriting that makes a band standout in the crowded genre. It also helps to have a slightly stronger production to mask the overall lack of ideas rather than letting the reliance on the last tow years of the genre bleed obviously through your music.
Music stores need to stop selling guitars to any kids that come in and start giving some sort of test before the inevitable downward trend of the genre taints the excellent legacy of bands like Fuck The Facts, Between the Buried and Me, Glass Casket, From a Second Story Window, The Red Chord and such.
