Avoid
Into Languish And Decay
3.5
Belgium's Avoid play a boring and derivative style of melodic death metal with very little flair. You know the type; liberal use of stolen Scandinavian riffs, a few galloping Maidenisms, and a few breakdowns that barely stay out of metalcore territory. Their debut album, Into Languish and Decay feels as though it was written to be played at a faster, thrashier pace, but it constantly feels as though it lurches at the same, monotonous pace through its entirety with next to nothing in terms of energy. Most of the blame can be placed solely on the overly simplistic, uninteresting drumming that often stumbles offbeat during fills. For this style of melodic metal the drumming performance has to be tighter with more emphasis on weaving quick, interesting rhythms to complement the lead playing.
Which brings us to the guitars. The riffing style is, as mentioned above, heavily influenced by the Scandinavian sound, but it's seriously lacking the energy and enthusiasm that makes the sound work for the genre's elite. Even when the rare solo appears to spice things up ("Into Languish and Decay", for example), it feels like the band is simply going through the motions, much like when a metalcore band throws in an unnecessary breakdown. The dry, thin production only makes things worse, and barely competes with today’s average demo submission. The guitar tone lacks density, the drums are on the quiet side, and the bass is virtually non-existent and buried in the mix.
The only positive I can come up with in regards to Avoid, is that they don't delve into the modern, pristine sound of Soilwork, In Flames and the like, and they thankfully resist the temptation of clean-sung choruses. Mercifully, there are only seven tracks, so the chances of sustaining brain damage from listening to this album are minimal. At least they got the band name right.
