Proprioception

Album review

Detroit, MI's And Hell Followed With claim to seek individuality with the chosen title of their sophomore album (and first for Earache), Proprioception, which essentially means having a singular perception in relationship to others, but, in fact, nothing could be further from the truth. No, sadly, the album's opening instrumental, "Mara," already makes for a terrible first impression by cycling through every overused gimmick in the deathcore catalog: Cookie Monster vocalizing, more breakdowns than one can shake a stick at, severe abuse of pinch harmonics, endlessly circular mosh riffs, and rampant complexity ultimately going absolutely nowhere -- all of which recur with disappointing frequency in subsequent cuts like "In Vastness, I Transfigure," "A Welcome Displeasure," "From Burning Sentiments," an so on. Rare highlights like "Rotting Procession" and the surprisingly memorable "One of the Swarm" take the left-hand path into black metal Sturm und Drang (courtesy of fellow Detroit natives the Black Dahlia Murder, who are clearly a colossal influence), and although the album is filled with rather evocative splatter movie lyrics throughout, the only remotely unique idea in the band's instrumental arsenal -- inserting eerie, deliberately layered melodic patterns resembling horror soundtracks -- is also repeated ad nauseam on numerous tracks ("This Night Is the Coroner's," "Dismantle," etc.). In other words, the end results are, by and large, disappointingly average and uninventive, meaning that And Hell Followed With will have to take another stab at that so-called individuality next time around.
© Eduardo Rivadavia /TiVo