Remember the movie rule of 2? (i.e Armageddon vs Deep Impact) that so often applies in music? So I recently discovered two US symphonically laced, shreddy, tech death/deathcore/metalcore/melodic death metal /The Artisan Era core bands and the same time. First is Tempe, Arizona’s Dead World Reclamation, and their second album, Aura of Iniquity, and second, Washington DCs Wythersake and their debut Antiquity. Both incredibly similar in sound and scope.

So let’s get to DWR first, who to me, answer the age-old question (OK, maybe not age old), “what if The Black Dahlia Murder had lots of keyboards?” Well quite simply, DWR is the answer to that question. And honestly, that really could be my review finished, it’s that simple.

Razor-sharp, European melodic death metal, blackened/00s metalcore riffs, dual, screamed/bellowed vocals identical to Trever Strnad and heck, even the song title sounds like something of a recent TBDM album (“Whispers of the Evergloom”, “The Everlasting Hunt”). But to their credit, DWR do it all very very with ample energy and conviction and being a sucker for synths, the keyboards do add a dramatic, theatrical element that I enjoy.

That said, at 48 minutes, some of the 5+ minute songs could be trimmed (though “Pantheon of Shadows” is a pretty good, slower number) , but for the most part the songs deliver the goods as described (TBDM with synths); in particular,  early tracks “Ripped From the Grave” and “Embrace the Hive” as well as the moodier “Heralds of the Formless One”, very snappy TBDM -ish, “Arachnocratic Assemblage” (ewwww) and “Those Born of Suffering”.

The keyboards aren’t too overbearing and not the focal point of the music like Wythersakes’s more flamboyant blackened/progressive effort, but sweeping background ornamentation that adds some cool epic atmospheres to the tried and true American metallics in the forefront. A pretty solid effort and a band I’ve added to my discography purchase list.

[Visit the band's website]

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