“SOS is stab on sight when they send their shots.”
To say that Deathcore and the more extreme subgenres of the scene have made a triumphant comeback is an unmistaken understatement. In the span of a few years we’ve seen bands the likes of Lorna Shore, Slaughter to Prevail, and Chelsea Grin making waves and gaining rapid popularity and an impressive number of new listeners, most of which are even unfamiliar with the genre.
Enter To The Grave, a 5-piece originating from Australia. With their debut album Global Warning, released in 2019, they arrived onto the scene armed and ready to bring destructive vocals, brutal breakdowns and captivating riffs. This proved to be the case after they quite successfully gained a reputation and an audience within the underground, raking in million of views and streams throughout the course of their releases. Fast forward to the 24th of February, a month after their successful tour run with Shadow of Intent and their sophomore album Director’s Cuts not only brings back the raw aggressiveness and intensity their listeners have come to love them for, but vastly improve and elevate those elements to an even higher standard.
It’s not difficult to note these improvements, as the opener “Warning Shot” drops the listener into a two minute array of madness and insanity. Followed by the lead single “Red Dot Sight”, the band show no signs of allowing their audience any breathing time. The just over 44 minutes project bears concise and harrowing grooves, dirty yet crisp vocals, two excellent features – that come in the form of Sam Crocker from Antagonist A.D. and Jess Christiansen from Bled Out – and a mixture of sharply sounding guitars that don’t shy away from dropping into menacing riffs that are sure to leave their listeners in disgust no matter how many times the tracks are played. There is a memorable moment in each of the eleven songs apparent within Director’s Cuts.
The highlight of the project comes with the lead vocalist Dane Evans’ phenomenal multi-layered performance throughout. Whether it be through the aggressive low gutturals, the demonically high pitched screeches, and in some cases even the traditional vocal fry techniques, he more than proves himself as a modern powerhouse within the highly talented spectrum of vocalists within the scene.
Thematically, the album revolves around the societal and environmental issues that plague the current state of humanity. While the album is sonically violent and gruelling, To The Grave wear their hearts on their sleeves lyrically, whether it be through tackling anti-vegan protesters who portray activists as criminals and terrorists, channelling the disgusting methods of animal cruelty and abuse within the structure of each track, or openly discussing their thoughts and feelings on not only their own musical tastes, but their fear, anger and sadness about a nihilistic driven future in which every element of humanity ceases to exist due to the current state of affairs. “Red Dot Sight”, “Found Footage” and “Cut Off The Head” are perfect examples of these thoughts and scepticisms, and create interesting discussion points for the listeners within the album’s runtime.
In conclusion, Director’s Cuts is a fantastic follow up album to Global Warning, upping the ante in almost every imaginable way and is pure raw aggressiveness. Each track hits hard and heavy without the need of any technical aspect, while keeping a thoughtful theme throughout the course of the album. A must listen this year for any fan of Deathcore.
9/10
Director’s Cuts is out tomorrow via Unique Leader Records and can be pre-ordered here.