“You better watch your mouth, PUNK!“
North Carolina unit FILTH sit themselves under the genre of ‘hip-hop-influenced deathcore‘, bringing in an influence that has many hits and misses, whilst mixing genres that more than delivering their fair share of sound character. Their sound has earnt them a following over the year, touring alongside the likes of Slaughter to Prevail, Lorna Shore and Chelsea Grin. With EPs aplenty and two solid full-lengths under their belts, it would seem FILTH would be on the cusp of their finest work yet. However, their latest album Southern Hostility sees the deathcore unit fumble.
As the record moves through its opening moments on “Infidel” and its title track, there is a notable shift in the dynamic offered up on Southern Hostility. The hip-hop influences and vocal-style are more present, with a change in production that is immediately noticeable. Sandwiched between these two tracks is “Stay Gutter“, which samples mouth crunching that leads to nothing more than discomfort and the fast forward button.
A brief interlude of sorts on “Shit Kickers” leads into “Gutter” and “Play Dead“, tracks that bring into view the main problems that Southern Hostility faces. The brute compression approach in the production is both big and stupid. The effort to amplify the downtuned guitars lead to the bass grating against the ear for the majority of the record. Another side effect is the drowning out any of the backing drums, noticeably the kicks that should be front and centre of any good deathcore record. Within all this, there are decent parts in “Gutter“, even it does indulge in overtly beggin-‘stank face’ moments that have come to plague records in the past few years.
There is a lyrical dearth at times on Southern Hostility, tracks “Chin Check” and “Martyr” yelling “Chin check, get your shit wrecked” and “Fuck what you stand for, cause you’ll fall for anything” lack any sort of bite that you would expect from a deathcore record, or even a hip-hop record of decent quality. “Cement Shoes” even throws in an eyeroll worthy “You’ve made your bed, now lie in it” for good measure too. Closer “Glass House” does deliver up a genuine moment of quality, with some absolutely feral black metal vocals and contrasting gutturals. In such moments you can see beyond the disappointing production and get drawn into the performance.
While Southern Hostility does look to make a shift in FILTH‘s sound, after more than establishing it in over the past eight or so years, it unfortunately hasn’t quite paid off for them. Production issues hamper the record from the outside, with songwriting that isn’t at the level of their contemporises. The group’s concept shows promise, but if FILTH are to go back to the drawing board with their next move, they’ll also have to navigate mire of the shifting sands that is modern deathcore.
4/10
Southern Hostility is out April 5th and can be pre-ordered here.