These days, technical bands are everywhere. Like it or not, it seems as if lurking around every corner, there’s another shreddy, riff-packed, harmonic-laden juggernaut ready to pounce upon your ears and take over the scene. While, to some degree, technicality can be fun, jaw-dropping and mechanically brilliant, it can also get repetitive and overbearing, and maybe even annoying. This is where Nevadan technical deathcore quartet I Built the Cross come into play, with their latest release, Banish the Disconnect. I Built the Cross prove that with intelligent songwriting, dynamic song structure, and the occasional neck-snapping breakdown, even incredibly technical music can be bouncy, engaging and fun. One of the most crucial aspects to I Built the Cross’ secret to brain-melting-yet-fun technical deathcore is how smooth and fluid each song flows. Don’t get me wrong–no place on the album has complacency taken the place of technicality. There are still time-changes, fills and heavy sections which appear at the drop of a dime, and colorful guitar flourishes that burst out of nowhere. Rather, each track on Banish the Disconnect flows smoothy into one another, and is comprised intelligently of sections which don’t clash, but instead, compliment each other as they create a dialectic. Infact, what makes Banish the Disconnect’s breed of technical deathcore unique isn’t just the shredding nature of the riffs or the lightning fast blasts and fills of the drums. Even the snapping, popping and grooving bass isn’t the sole benefactor to I Built the Cross’ profound sound (although all of those elements help). Rather, the nature in which all of these instruments work and build off of one another creates an almost dialogue-like atmosphere allowing deep, resounding harmonization between the various instruments, and between the instruments and the vocals. While every track features this type of syncopation to some degree, “Banish the Disconnect” and “Human Condition Part One: Godless Cosmos” display it most proudly. The back-and-forth arguments between the guitar and drums, with constant quibbling from the bass creates a stellar, thoroughly engaging soundscape with just the right amount of grooving, jiving heavy to keep the listener’s head bobbing.
Whereas Banish the Disconnect’s title track, and “Human Condition Part One” show the groovier, more progressive side of I Built the Cross, there is still more than enough heavy to go around. “Author,” the EP’s lead single is a short gem, featuring under two and a half minutes of unbridled brutality guaranteed to turn even retirement homes into mosh pits. Meanwhile, “Impostor Christ” combines the band’s proclivity for progressive, climactic and conversational song writing with their penchant for heavy, strife-filled breakdowns, creating an Everest-like climax for the 22-minute dynamo that is Banish the Disconnect.
Technical? Check. Talented? Check. Dynamic? Check. Heavy? Double check. I Built the Cross have finally found themselves at the doorstep of technical deathcore stardom with the perfect balance of melody, technicality and brutality that can be found within Banish the Disconnect. While the incredible proficiency with which each member handles their duty is remarkable on its own, the culmination of each individual element allows I Built the Cross to not only banish the disconnect, but banish boredom and discontent as well.
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