Deathcore is evolving. At least, a strand of it is anyway. There’s a certain breed of bands who strain and struggle against the chains of the genre and have done for a few years now. Earlier this year, Enterprise Earth released a record that not only flirted with more mainstream elements but threw a healthy dose of progressive metal a la Opeth in there for good measure. When Fit For An Autopsy released their last album, there were a lot of fans who made comparisons to another massive, legendary metal band. That band was Gojira.
The signs were already there in the seismic stomp, the vocal inflections leaning but not fully straying into full clean territory and the arena ready choruses of ‘Far From Heaven’ and ‘Two Towers’. With the release of Oh, What The Future Holds now in the rear view and the plaudits still being rung out today, it became a curious point as to how the band would progress their sound. They have all the talent, the scope, the potential to grab the brass ring and elevate themselves to the next level but would they take the chance?
A thousand times yes – mostly. This is an album that is definitely Fit For An Autopsy taken to the next level, as they’ve nailed their brooding, cataclysmic brand of deathcore (albeit barely, now) to a tee over the years but in some ways, it eclipses their previous effort. The Nothing That Is showcases a further mastering of heavy, abrasive dynamics. From the sheer ludicrous stomp of opener ‘Hostage’ which gives way to a dense, layered melody and a maelstrom of riffing, it feels like the world is ending all around you. ‘Spoils Of The Horde’ flits more back into the band’s earlier days complete with blasts of kick drums and evil yet wonderfully enunciated vocals (Joe Badolato cements himself amongst the genre’s giants across the whole record, standing alongside Vincent Bennett and Phil Bozeman in terms of sheer menace and insidiousness) before an oddly melancholic guitar solo brings you back to earth.
There’s a good bit of Meshuggah-esque chugging riffing throughout the record, though all imbued with driving, sometimes hummable melodies and at times, some classic hardcore style antagonistic fury. Plenty of times on the record, particularly on the brutal ‘Weaker Wolves’ you’ll be having predictions of getting absolutely clattered in the face during the more violent sections, showing the band haven’t forgotten where they came from and fully crossed over into circle pit inciting antics,
Boundaries are not broken on this record. Nor does it elevate the band to the aforementioned level of Gojira, for they are a band simply destined to exist a level above 99% of their peers. However, it should elevate Fit For An Autopsy to another level for a band of their origins and their ilk. The musicianship alone surpasses all but a small number of their peers and the production, whilst slightly muddy in places, is delightfully thick and ominous.
In terms of downsides, there isn’t a song that touches ‘Far From Heaven’ in terms of either quality or scope and the aforementioned muddy mix might be a turn off to some. However, the album is stronger as a whole than their previous effort, not dropping off in the back half as Oh What The Future Holds did. One of the album’s best tracks is the slow burning ‘Lurch’ which, when it kicks in, hits like Francis Ngannou in his prime and promises to be an absolute beast when played live; it’s the same with penultimate rager ‘Lust For The Severed Head’, which has the potential to cause some long term neck damage. Closer, ‘The Silver Sun’ features some of the biggest melodies on the record, backed up with a fantastic journey of a track that highlights how progressive the band can be at times. It’s a record that, similarly with Enterprise Earth at the beginning of the year, etches FFAA‘s name into the highest echelons of the deathcore genre and yet at the same time, prepares the band to be taken out of it and thrust into more mainstream circles.