Review of With Blood Comes Cleansing - Horror

You gotta feel sorry for the guys in The Acacia Strain. Not only have they accidentally spawned a truckful of copycats who heavily "borrow" the odd-chorded chug-downs that they brought to the table with 3750, but their admirers seem to be the ones of church attending persuasion. You know, the warriors doing the work for someone who is already supposed to be "all powerful" to start with. So TAS is clearly going to have to reinvent themselves soon or be buried promptly.

I could've sworn I accidentally clicked Impending Doom instead of With Blood Comes Cleansing while bringing up my Windows Media Player. I guess the almost identical eye-rolling introduction track instilling the fear of the omnipotent threw me off. So "Himatidrosis" kicks in and it's apparent that they're not exactly the same as Impending Doom. They are exactly the same as other bands that we seriously don't need more clones of. Tuning down and chunkblasting away like The Acacia Strain, those obnoxious hardcore group chants used by Despised Icon, and the seriously worn out tag team vocals of near guttural to high screeching and European melody that Black Dahlia Murder made popular. And it's been buried so long that I don't really know who made the breakdown so abundant, but it surely is a standard ingredient with alot of younger bands today. Originality and freshness are not factors here, as WBCC are obviously riding a trend or two (maybe being Christian is trendy now as well). Am I the only one who finds humor in a breakdown precursor that is shouted "Rejoice!" in a hardcore gang manner?

Continuation of my criticism of this offering could very well be extended further, but that would be boring and predictable; much like 90% of this album. Being an enthusiast of heavy drop tuning and thick'n'crisp productions, it's slightly puzzling why I find minimal replay value in With Blood Comes Cleansing. It's definitely not the children's book subject matter, as I was able to look past that with bands such as Impending Doom and Living Sacrifice. While I find some creativity in tracks such as "Forsaken" and "Filthy Stains", I simply can't help promote blatant plagiarism of many bands who do this much better and have a better hand at songwriting. You can find the components of With Blood Comes Cleansing's music practically everywhere, as breakdowns, bass drops, and Gothenburg melodies were not endangered items the last time I checked MyKidSpace. Creating your own sound seems to be at the bottom of the "to do" list of many newer bands, and it's a shame because Metal should be different from radio garbage or anything else you hear walking around any given department store. I recommend WBCC go back to square one and develop a trademark style, or copy a much more difficult style used by bands such as Theory in Practice or Beneath the Massacre.

Release Details

With Blood Comes Cleansing

Horror

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