Heartscarved
Epilogue
7.6
Wow, how did this band stay completely under my radar for all this time? North Carolina's Heartscarved play very competitive metalcore, so it's a damn shame that they're releasing this album as their swansong, due to the band's splitting up. Their sound isn't reliant on the art of the breakdown, as many core bands tend to do, although there are a few breakdowns here and there. For the most part, they play melodic death where you can actually pinpoint some death metal riffs, but of course, with the typical screamed metalcore lyrics. But don't get caught into thinking this is a brutal album, it's chock-full of melody. There are a scant three songs on Epilouge, but fortunately they are of decent length, averaging about 6 minutes apiece.
The first song, Avondale starts off damn heavy, until some Dark Tranquillity-esque leads kick in. From there, it's a rollercoaster ride ending right in downtown Gothenburg. For the hardcore category, this has way more melody than other similar bands of the style. Next up is the song Patrick Bateman. This one harkens back to the glory days of Whoracle-era In Flames. Starting off hard, the song builds in intensity until the 3:30 mark, where all of a sudden they drop into a clean guitar passage. From there it's just a long melodic cooldown after a great metal workout. Closing out the EP is Sixtyfivescenepoints. The song structure is basically the same as the prior two. Big start, slow it down for the middle, then a crushing finish. Throw in a little solo and clean vox for good measure.
It's really too bad that these guys split so early. They play a good brand of metal that's obviously influenced by In Flames and the like, but it comes off as more adventurous than the typical Gothenburg band (Dark Tranquillity excepted). If anyone has heard their older full-length album, please Lash Out and let me know how it compares to the songs here. I'm intrigued.
