He’s in there somewhere
OK SO many warriors of the sweatpants mosh swear by the sentiment that “Molesting The Decapitated” is the best DEVOURMENT album that ever was. It had a very different lineup than current Devo, and recently some of the original bros who wrote that masterpiece have formed a band in the same style of the album, called MESHIHA. They released a single last year (see below) and proved that they still have the sickness within. I’ve been following them since I first saw people post rehearsal videos on the SMN forums, claiming they were a Christian band (still fuzzy on that issue tbh). As such I was incredibly flattered and stoked when their drummer BRAD contacted me on facebook, apparently remembering me as one of Big Chocolate’s bros and the singer of 7 Horns 7 Eyes. He turned out to be a total standup guy, very in touch with the current state of extreme/heavy music, and best of all, not butthurt! I took the opportunity to send some SYWH favorite jams and get his read on them, and he proved to be incredibly open-minded to new, fun things, without trying too hard to be “with it”. First off check out the 10/10 slamming sickness of MESHIHA:
SO stoked for more material from these guys!
Now without further hesitation, BRAD FINCHER reviews some SCENE JAMS
Defiler – Walk In The Glow
Defiler, I’ve never heard this band before. I’m not feeling the hardcore-style spoken word intro being lip-synced by what looks like a high school science teacher but it comes in pretty hard and groovy after that. Somewhat of a generic deathcore mid-range vocal. Serviceable but doesn’t stand out in a fairly crowded field. Sonically middle of the road with the guitar and drum sounds also. The lyrics are a bright spot. Smartly written and befitting the music. I do like the guitar melody over the verse riff though I question how they pull this off live with what appears to be one guitarist. Best part is easily the Gregorian chant effect during the chorus. A solid effort but doesn’t dazzle.”"
Woe, Is Me – Vengeance
“Woe, Is Me. Downtuned guitars, heavy kick drums, layered screamo/death vocals, singing that’s catchy but not whiny, breakdown after breakdown, extremely slick production, with a sprinkling of electronics. What’s not to like? Not familiar with these guys but easily one of the best bands I’ve heard in this genre of modern metalcore. The requisite positive lyrics are simultaneously uplifting and and slightly rebellious. Favorite part is the breakdown mid-song. Straight double-kick with a Machine-Headesque riff. Quite impressed.”
Xzibit – Napalm
“Ok where the hell did this come from and how did I not know about it? Rad Zero Dark Thirty vibe for the video. Bonus points for that. I’ve long been a fan of Xzibit but I never expected a full-on metal jam from him. This rap/metal hybrid seems like it’s about a decade or two too late but it’s fairly well-done so fuck it. I’ve always thought Xzibit had a tonality to his rap voice that would be well-suited to metal: that scratchy, deep, aggressive quality. The verse guitar riff is simple but pretty goddamn heavy. Alternate between that, a simple chorus melody sung by X to the Z, throw in a soft-spoken bridge and boom, you’ve got a solid little tune.”
Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! – Captain Blood
“I’m glad to see New Found Glory making a comeback. Seriously, this would be good background party music but I can’t get into it anymore than that. Pretty much just alternates between a metalcore part and a pop\punk part. Unfortunately I know a hundred other bands that do both better.”
Excision – X Rated
“I’ll say right now Excision is probably one of the heaviest concerts I’ve ever been to. Yes, that includes Suffocation. It was the only show I’ve left and felt like I had beaten about the chest-area for 2 hours. I know Dubstep is trendy but I don’t care. Not that it matters, but I liked it before it became popular with the douchebag set. There’s a very good reason that Korn, Muse and other well-established heavy rock/metal bands are infusing dubstep elements into their sound. Dubstep drops are like the DJ equivalent of metal breakdowns. They usually have a mosh-worthy groove, can emit very new and exciting sounds, and no acoustic instrument can create frequencies as dense and subsonically low as a MacBook can. Fact. It’s difficult for some musicians to accept, especially drummers, but I choose to embrace our digital overlords. I don’t see it as a threat to traditional methods of making music but as a new avenue to be explored either on it’s own or to be inter-woven to create something neither tradition or digital music can create on their own. This track is actually one of my least favorite on the record only because I don’t care for the rap vocal. The song doesn’t push much in terms of arrangement but opts to maintain a steady groove. The lack of a dynamically built up drop keep it from really hitting hard. As the rest of the album though it’s sonically very heavy sure to rattle your fillings.”
No Zodiac – Chaos Reigns
“This looks and feels like a New York mugging, and I mean that as a compliment. Clad in all black and ski masks playing low-fi punkcore in a poorly lit basement, I can get down with this. Short and to the point. Under 3 minutes of verse groove and breakdown. Sure, why not?”
Impending Doom – Deceiver
“I’ve always kind of liked Impending Doom and that’s how I feel about this song. I kind of like it. Kind of. A decent mid-tempo groove from start to finish, not much else. Ok I’m bored.”
Nicki Minaj – Beez In The Trap
“Man, I just can’t fully get on the Nicki Minaj train. I think she’s one of the most talented female rappers around but I don’t enjoy the weird voices and accents she is constantly doing. She seems like she’s trying to hard to get noticed. It’s working, however. That she’s on everyone, I mean everyone’s tracks and that half her own songs are full-blown dancepop jams makes her even less appealing to me. That said, this is one of her better songs because it’s more of a straight-forward rap song. The sparse track under her vocal is solid but nothing that really grabs me. 2 Chainz also does nothing for me here, another overrated rapper. The video is pure eyecandy though. So that’s a win.”
Exotype – Kilo
“Exotype. The first deathcore band to fully embrace dubstep. Formed from the ashes of Catalepsy, who I really enjoyed. A brave experiment that I’ve followed since inception. I have to say it’s a disappointment though. The reasons are evident in this track. Catalepsy had no clean singing and pummeled with downtuned breakdowns and menacing vocals. Exotype has the breakdowns though but now it’s mixed with cleanly sung choruses. I’m not against that per se but it seems to dilute a band that did pretty well without them. However, my main complaint is that it doesn’t live up to the hype of being Dubstep/Deathcore. The only electronics are some random sounds beneath the guitars. No big dynamic builds or crushing bass drops. So in that sense I don’t see it as anything more than metalcore with some light electronics. No hallmarks of actual Dubstep. I see on their FB page they are billed as “crushing metal with fused with filthy electronica.” They heavily worked the Dubstep angle early on and got the same reaction as mine from a lot of people which is why I suspect there’s no mention of Dubstep on their page any longer. Not as envelope-pushing as it could’ve been. This song is solid mix of breakdown, djent, and clean chorus. All done well and quite cohesive, embellished by tasteful use of electronic sounds for overall atmosphere. Â Maybe I’m holding them and this song to an unfair standard because I thought Catalepsy was very good, but I just feel a lot more could’ve been done here. That said, I would totally headbang to this in my car.”
Thank you so much BRAD FINCHER for being such a rad dude and engaging in our zany SYWH antics! Everyone be sure to go back and listen to DEVOURMENT’s “Molesting The Decapitated, and check out MESHIHA on facebook! #SLAM
shiv bb your embeds are broken.
also it’s fucking cool to see old metal dudes back new music, especially when it’s trendy stuff like dubstep. totally nailed it with the exotype review, too. 5-star post, you are good and lovely.
Everything seems to be working for me
i fixed them. you need to hit “preview” before you post it to make sure your shit is working.
Thanks, I thought I did but I guess not. Sry for my incompetence, this is what you get when you have a band dude writing things
Would love to hear the hundred other bands he thinks do easycore better than Chunk!, always looking for some new tunes! thanks in advance, bb
also lol’d at @ picture description. seems like a cool dude!
great post shiv, could you find out the scoop on the Meshiha record, wasn’t that song released like three years ago ?
so is that chunk band pop punk? are there breakdowns in pop punk? all i know is like green day and blink 182 and whatever was on the american pie soundtrack.
i am old :(
they’re easycore (which is pop punk + breakdowns, basically)
I love that exotype EP :(
LIEK DIS IF U COMMENCED THE SUFFERING
that xzbit song is legit. would break shit to.
As an azn who has been mugged in downtown Jew York City I 1000000% agree with the “New York mugging” comment for the No Zodiac song
Sorry man I thought you was somebody else
It’s ok man, as long as the money went towards your weekly jerk chicken fund then I hold no ill will
Dude seems cool. Also digging the new band.
Dubstep drops are like the DJ equivalent of metal breakdowns.
Perfect
It’s good to see he’s a chill bro.
these are some of my favorite posts, and it makes it even better when the interviewees are such good sports and review the shit with an open mind. 10/10
Damn Son Where’d You Find This Voice Sample/10
cool read/10
would read again, 4 out of 5 slam samples
CHILL DUDE , BACKED HARD
dat excision x-rated song in my earphones = pushing the boundaries of frequencies brah!!
good shit…. digging the slick clear digital prods….
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Impending Doom is stoked that dude kind of likes them
Remember back when ID was all over that Devourment dick doe?