THE APEX - Underbelly

September 13, 2016, 7 years ago

(Independent)

Greg Pratt

Rating: 8.0

review heavy metal the apex

THE APEX - Underbelly

Windsor, Ontario’s The Apex killed it pretty hard on their full-length self-titled debut in 2014, and they’re back with a three-song, 11-minute EP. Works for me: for their particular brand of ultra-heavy metalcore, 11 minutes is just enough time to get the job done. Opener “Scabs And Sheep” delivers a great slow-burning heavy groove before getting grinding and manic, the song just totally nailing how great metalcore can be when done with this sort of conviction, and this sort of sonic heft. “Underbelly” continues off basically right where the opening cut starts (look, this isn’t necessarily about pushing boundaries, alright?), the song deftly moving from tempo to tempo but creating a song, not a jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces. The drum and guitar interplay brings to mind Meshuggah, but the screaming is pure angry-guy hardcore, and the riffing smart, early-‘00s genre-pushing metalcore. 

Closer “Paid In Exposure” is also great, the drumming on fire during the complicated tech part, which makes way for a slower, more haunting breakdown; man, this is the kind of technical metalcore that would have been on bigger labels like Relapse a decade ago (and it was, when fellow Canucks The End partnered with Relapse), and it still sounds great today. Throughout this EP it's apparent that The Apex have added to their sound, things being doomier, with more open space and more room to breathe; it's more mature, but not in a wimpy way at all, kinda reminding me of The End’s progression when they were around. A good step ahead from a band who should probably be getting more attention in metalcore circles.

 



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