With Siege of Amida losing its crown jewel (Whitechapel) to that all encompassing mega metropolis (Metalblade for those not in the know), it made sense to ensure that their next deathcore monolith was firmly propelled into the consciousness of the metal spheres, and disregard what reception was received, which so far has been positive in the mainstream echelons and utter loathing amongst the grumblers in the most subterranean currents of the underground. But with respect to the later, what else is new?

Now I cannot admit that this racket pulls me in, as I am (and this is a point I have made more then once through my rambling reviews) just so thoroughly satisfied with a melee of breakdowns and gurgling vocals. Well, at least I’m honest, which brings me to my major point of this review, how honest are Annotations of An Autopsy? Given the slick artwork (somewhere between Dan Seagrave and Aliens), the punchy production and music that fulfils all the current criteria to ensure a legion of adorers on everyone’s favourite community site, I cannot help but find this question popping in the back of my head each time I listen to this record.

For there is no doubt, this band can play, the churning, tectonic rumble of ‘Human Dust,’ and the slithering malevolence of ‘Prosthetic Erection,’ display this. More impressive though, is that, each piece manages to burrow its way into your brain, as each piece shows character, distinction and sterling moments of OTT brutality that instigate repeat listens. Admittedly, the core elements of each song remain the same, but then, isn’t about 99.9% of all death metal (no matter what shape or form) built on the same elements?

Which then brings me back to that question, how honest this band is? I mean you cannot fake or just blindly conceive the crushing rumbles that populate the aforementioned ‘Human Dust,’ without being serious, genuine fans of music that is all about liquefying the listener’s ear drums. More evidence is by interspersing the mayhem with a lonely, ghostly guitar soliloquy (‘The Child Snatcher,’) that shows an education beyond the most brutal strata of metal, that being in the more refined and classical ones too.

Of course it’s understandable for a band such as AOAA to come under such scrutiny, as the main portion of their fan base is the same androgynous mongoloids that dearly hold the likes of Bring Me The Horizon to their hearts. Furthermore, they really are latecomers to the deathcore game, and given those aesthetic indulgences listed above (artwork, production) it can be even more of a turn off to the majority of people out there.

Despite this and that nagging question of honesty that was annoyingly pinching my conscious, I can firmly say that AOAA have made a fine, but most importantly, enjoyable record that doesn’t descend into a homogenous blur of blasting, squealing and breakdowns. There is structure, and a honed sense of arrangement in these pieces and I’ll be damned in flames that their next record is not able to go to toe to toe with the monoliths of the genre.

[Visit the band's website]

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