Mirror Of Dead Faces
Lamentation
5.6
From the same label (Creator-Destructor Records) that brought you The Funeral Pyre and Cerebus comes Mirror of Dead Faces, a band out of Riverside, CA that is hip to that crushing deathcore sound that seems to be attracting so much attention these days. Unfortunately, based on their debut album Lamentation, they have a ways to go before they’ll get themselves a piece of the pie.
On the surface, there would seem to be little wrong with the album: nice tones, crisp production, good grooves, etc. So taken one track at a time, I was pretty impressed with it. It was when I started listening to Lamentation as an album that the chinks in the armor started to appear. To be more specific, two really big chinks. First, all the tracks seem to blend together. I don’t mean that they flow together nicely. I mean that when I asked myself “Is this still track 1?” the disc was on track 3; when I thought it was track 5, it was on track 7. Everything seems to share the same basic rhythmic pattern and formula.
Which brings me to the second chink. I can’t remember a damn thing between listens. I’ve given this thing at least a dozen spins so far, and never once have I said, “Oh yeah, this was one of the good ones.” To be fair, if I nitpick at a certain track, I can find redeeming qualities. “This Is My Curse” has some ferocity and groove with some interesting guitar work, and “Bringer of Peace, The Lord of War” does differentiate itself by slowing some parts down to the speed of sludge. Ultimately, though, when the disc ends, I’m hard-pressed to find highlights, and if I do hit the play button again, it’s more out of frustration than appreciation.
Mirror of Dead Faces are another case of a band having all the pieces to the puzzle but not having them assembled in the proper order. If they can diversify their songwriting a bit and better make one song stand apart from the next, they will become a definite threat in the genre. Until then, they just make me want to listen to All Shall Perish.
