Chronicles of Oblivion is the third full-length offering from France’s Deep in Hate, newly signed to Kaotoxin. A progression from the band’s initial sound, Chronicles of Oblivion sees the band playing a somewhat technical style of deathcore in the vein of Thy Art is Murder injected with a lethal strain of Decapitated-influenced modern death metal. It’s a surprisingly solid hybrid that thankfully pays more debt to the death metal side of things.

After a completely unnecessary intro track of some hissing noise, “Genesis of Void” opens with an almost industrial-sounding churn and somewhat technical riffing, leading into a sparse breakdown. The production is clean, but not totally lacking in reverb, which keeps things from sounding too polished. The guitars are thick, and the more deathy parts of the song are pretty sonically punishing. The sense of groove that carries through a series of breakdown rhythms at the end of the song demonstrates that Deep in Hate is a welcome departure from run-of-the-mill deathcore.

The subsequent track, “The Cattle Procession,” actually elicited the stink face and the savage head bob as I listened to it for the first time. It strikes the perfect balance of predictability while providing unexpected twists and headbanging groove. The chugging breakdowns are balanced with dark, off-kilter melodies. It’s like a deathcore version of “Spheres of Madness.”

The only fault worth mentioning is that Deep in Hate is sometimes too controlled; seldom do the songs fly off the handle the way they could, or should. The most technical moment on this album, the noodling toward the end of “The Divide,” seems more or less by-the-numbers, not the catastrophic maelstrom that it might have been. This is a common problem with technical metal though, that technicality weakens the impact of the music rather than enhancing it.

But there are many moments that explode with kinetic energy to more than make up for that shortcoming. And Deep in Hate is not overly technical. The band favors the machine-like dual attack of the razor-sharp guitars and in-your-face kick drum in controlled bursts, not rapid fire. By and large, the technical flourishes serve an overall purpose, providing context and buildup to the breakdowns. The frenzied attack that intensifies one minute into “Altars of Lies,” and the blasting of “The Unheard Prayers” speak to the potential that this band has to unleash some serious devastation. The music has the same machine-like drive and sense of groove of Decapitated, and some of the breakdowns bear the weightiness of The Acacia Strain‘s finer moments. Relentless closer “Beyond” brings things to a slow, devastating end with a touch of tragic melody.

With this album, Deep in Hate has proven itself a formidable unit. As one who is hesitant about anything brandishing the ‘core label, I found this to be an immensely enjoyable slab of modern metal. This is how it’s done. Chalk up another victory to the French metal scene.

[Visit the band's website]

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