“Some people deserve to fucking die.“
Deathcore has been a subgenre that I’ve gotten closer and closer to over the years. Being relatively picky with this genre of music, I felt as if I needed to expand my deathcore horizons a bit. Enterprise Earth have been my personal favorite for a few years now (bit saddened by the departure of Dan Watson), along with Fit For an Autopsy, and how could I write a deathcore article without mentioning the mighty Lorna Shore? It’s easy to listen to this genre and feel like everything molds together, and it can get incredibly stale very VERY fast.
Rewind eight months, and Spite had just released the first single for Dedication to Flesh called “Made to Please.” Immediately my ears were perked, from the absolutely horrific intro (from a film I can’t quite put my finger on, Hostel?), to vocalist Darius Tehrani’s fucking phenomenal vocals, and complimented by the fast instrumentation (“Some people deserve to fucking die”). Admittedly, I was not a fan of Spite before this single, not because anything was inherently bad, I just hadn’t taken the time to dive in on them and find the song that scratches the itch, that one breakthrough song that makes a new fan. “Made to Please” did just that, I had then become a fan of Spite and had become excited for their new record. Next up came “Caved In“, released a month or so after the first single. I was curious if they could maintain my interest, and “Caved In” did absolutely that and then some. It’s fun, it’s heavy, the tempo moves around and you’re caught in a sea of dynamic anger that is made to please (“Rolled around in shards of glass uproot your world to dust and ash“).
“Hangman” was the 3rd single to be released for Dedication to Flesh. It maintained the momentum created from the previous two singles, variating the tempo multiple times throughout the track and keeping you on the edge of the seat wondering where they will go next. Darius’ vocals are seriously fucking good too; his lows are some of the best I’ve ever heard (“A taste of the pavement might be the answer to kill my last thought“). Finally, just a few weeks before the release of the record, they released the final single/title track “Dedication to Flesh“. The title track goes off in an expected fashion — while remaining quite simple in instrumentation, it sounds great. Now to current day, listening to the record in its entirety: “Lord of the Upside Down” opens with a massive build by Darius, which leads into a great breakdown championed by the line “suffer for eternity“. The band pulls out all the stops on some great breakdowns that don’t overdo it, as on “Proper One” and right in the beginning of “Some Things You Should Know…“.
When you get to songs like “The Most Ugly” it starts out great, but begins to overstays its welcome, whereas songs like “Fear” work out very well in terms of run time. In the song, “The Son of Dawn” Darius does an amazing vocal build from absolute guttural lows to his highest high and it sounds so fucking cool. Normally, I’m not a big fan of interludes, but “Sounds For the Descent” gives a much needed break from the onslaught Dedication to Flesh has brought upon you. The closer “Crumble” doesn’t throw any curveballs, and gives you a perfect execution of deathcore that’s been quite apparent throughout the record. Great instrumentation with a mix of speed, low and slow breakdowns, and some of the coolest sounding gutturals you’ll ever hear.
The only downfall of Dedication to Flesh is that for me, some of the tracks start to feel a bit “sameish” at the start of the backend on this record, and some may be a bit longer than need be. Now that could be because I’m not the biggest fan of the genre, but I think deathcore fans, and especially Spite fans will truly love this record. There is certainly an essence of “simple, yet effective deathcore” on this record that is quite refreshing when the genre nowadays has been flooded with bands trying to one up the famous breakdown on Lorna‘s “To the Hellfire“. By remaining true to themselves, Spite have found a way to make Dedication to Flesh truly great without sacrificing authenticity. One of my favorites, if not my favorite deathcore release of 2022. Kudos to you Spite.
Dedication to Flesh by Spite is out on August 19th, 2022 via Rise Records. Click here for streaming, preorders, and merch.
7.5/10