Style: technical deathcore, melodic death metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Shadow of Intent, Lorna Shore, Rings of Saturn, Mors Principium Est, After the Burial
Review by: Andy
Country: Italy
Release date: 18 August 2023
First thing’s first, while Deinòs is calling Pareidolia an EP, it’s not. Thirty-four minutes isn’t an EP; thirty-four minutes is longer than the last couple Archspire LPs. Now that the boilerplate crap is out of the way, I’ll actually review Pareidolia, the latest release of Italian Alberto Ragone and his one man technical deathcore-cum-melodeath concoction.
Falling somewhere between Rings of Saturn, Aephanemer, and Mors Principium Est, the guitar parts really stand out on Pareidolia. Satisfyingly technical with a neoclassical groove, Ragone’s axework is impressive, especially when he starts to harmonize multiple parts such as on “Axolotl” and “Tribute.” On the former, the deathcore chugs and roars balance out the intricate guitar parts to prevent either from dominating the sound, and it slowly ratchets up the intensity into an exuberant blast beat section with slick harmonizing. The song ends with a downtuned version of the main riff to increase the heft very reminiscent of a Rings of Saturn writing technique, and it’s both heavy and fun.
However, those blasting drums become grating quickly as they sound programmed and are triggered so obviously that even Aaron Kitcher would blush. Since their plastic-y sound dominates the mix so much–along with the high pitched, shredding guitars–I desperately would have liked an improved drum tone. This problem is especially apparent when Deinòs abandons the melodeath in favor of pure deathcore breakdowns. These breakdowns are painfully boring, and the stripped down sound of the drums and chugging during them provide neither heaviness nor interest as well as really underscoring the weak production. Deinòs works best as a slightly technical melodeath band and not a melodic deathcore act, but unfortunately the band leans too far into the latter direction for comfort.
Tracks like “Shattered Ribcage” and “Tribute” exacerbate the problematic -core core of Deinòs’ sound with mediocre clean vocals pushed way too far back in the mix for their own good. Distractingly lame, the chorus–which should be epic with the lyrical content of Promethean legend–turns the neoclassical death metal into the bland, stereotypical metalcore of the aughts. Some vocal lessons and better production could save any future releases from Deinòs, but in their current state, the lackadaisical singing just completely kills the momentum that the guitars provide.
Curiously, Deinòs saves their best for last with the “The Origin,” a cute little track that enfolds symphonic accompaniment into their sound, helping the band curate a dramatic, technical vibe like Irreversible Mechanism’s debut. The spooky pizzicato’s interactions with the guitar parts are awesome and what the rest of this album needed to avoid the pitfalls of stereotypical mediocrity that it fell into.
Not totally a waste of time, Deinòs have a solid execution for large swaths of Pareidolia, but except for the final track, the metalcore and deathcore influences detract from the Aephenamer-ish melodeath. With more focus, the next album (not EP because this isn’t an EP) from Deinòs could certainly impress, but for now this is just another deathcore album for the discard pile.
Recommended tracks: Portator di Falsa Luce, Tribute, The Origin
You may also like: Godeater, Aephanemer, Irreversible Mechanism
Final verdict: 5/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram
Label: independent
Deinòs is:
– Alberto Ragone (everything)
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