FORTY WINTERS - Rotting Empire
August 17, 2016, 7 years ago
(Dead Truth Recordings)
This Florida band calls themselves blackened metalcore, but all I really hear on their second full-length is Hatebreed filtered through some heavier elements. The vocals border on a death growl at points, and the music is generally heavier than Hatebreed—sure, we could call this metalcore instead of hardcore—but this band clearly has simple, metallic hardcore on the mind. The production is polite but with enough bottom-end to pack a punch, the first half of this album flying past in a blur of heard-it-before, but one that isn't altogether unpleasant, bringing to mind the glory days of metalcore in the early '00s, where this simple take on a sound was really quite refreshing. It doesn't do a whole lot in 2016 though, until track five, that is: that song, “Human Sacrifice,” utilizes the same tricks that the first four did, but adds in well-executed blast beats, giving the band more of an identity, and also more of an edge. I approve and not just because I'm a numbskull who needs things to be grinding for them to be good: I approve because this is where this band's strength obviously lies, and they know it, pumping the “blackened” side of their sound even though it's barely on this album.
Also, closer “Disease Of Time” kills it with its chilling melodies and ultra-noisy ending. If the album was more like this two songs, they would have knocked it out of the park. And here's something else I love about this album: the 25-minute runtime. Taking their cues from the hardcore scene they're obviously influenced by, Forty Winters are smart enough to know that this kind of music is most powerful in smaller doses. Well played. This will get the pit started, sure, but here's hoping Forty Winters plays up their strengths, and their individuality, a bit more next time.