Beneath the Massacre is a band that I have always found interesting. Many others, however, have not shared my interest. I often see Beneath the Massacre criticized for their songwriting style and being accused of just being mindless guitar riffs without any real structure or substance. I, for one, have enjoyed the level of technicality that Beneath the Massacre brings to the table ever since I heard Mechanics of Dysfunction.
Incongruous, which was released on February 12 via Prosthetic Records, sees the band drift closer to death metal and away from deathcore. While they have always been a technical death metal band, there were definitely some deathcore-esque breakdowns on some earlier Beneath the Massacre album. On Incongruous, Beneath the Massacre has almost completely abandoned breakdowns (a few still yet remain, however). Given the intensity of their songs, the lack of breakdowns is even more impressive. There is no longer anything to give them a break from all the shredding and blasting.
The technical guitar riffs are still present. Seeing as how they were what drew me to Beneath the Massacre in the first place, I’m glad to see that they have not declined in frequency or quality. Guitar solos are spread throughout the album and they, too, are technical and calculated. The drums are not anything mind-blowing, but drummer Justin Rouselle does a commendable job and adds to the overall pace of Incongruous.
One aspect of Beneath the Massacre that I have never been too wild about is the vocals. While they’re not bad by any means, they’re not particularly interesting either. Vocalist Elliot Desgagnes’s arsenal consists almost entirely of unintelligible low growls. This problem persists on Incongruous. While the vocals are, admittedly, not the focus of Beneath the Massacre’s style, nor the reason why I listen to them in the first place, I wouldn’t complain if the vocal delivery was a tad more diverse.
Incongruous is not the best technical death metal album I’ve ever heard and it can get a tad repetitive at times, but it is still solid and enjoyable overall. The technical guitar riffs that Beneath the Massacre is known for return in perfect form to lay waste to those that listen. Despite the somewhat monotonous vocal performance, Incongruous is definitely worth a listen.
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