What’s the fucking point? Seriously, what’s the point of deathcore anymore? When Lorna Shore raised the bar so high, yet A Wake in Providence and Angelmaker came very close to clearing it with their releases early in the year, I just wonder why any band would even try.

That’s the thing about deathcore, though. It persists. It’s been around for quite a while now, it has evolved in the direction of symphonic deathcore and kept steady at the OGs still pumping out brutal, traditional deathcore. The Last Ten Seconds of Life are kind of in the middle.

Despite the fact  I made a mistake and overrated their last self-titled full-length, they’re moving forward. A self-titled album usually means it’s a new mission statement. Well, shortly afterward, almost the entire band quit without explanation, so that was interesting timing. However, they quickly came back with a new lineup, and without much time, will be releasing a new EP to introduce the new members.

In the opening track, I can’t help but make comparisons of new vocalist Tyler Beam to Alex the Terrible from Slaughter to Prevail. He’s a powerhouse, and the first track is clearly intent on telling you who the new band is, which is basically what they were. His deeeeeep vocals juxtaposed with the choral vocals/synth work and the breakdown at the end is not something entirely unexpected but is quite well done.

It’s not as if they didn’t use synths before, but they take more of a dominating presence in “Retribution” at the beginning, the however rest of the track is savage, and includes a killer guitar solo. There’s a breakdown near the end because it’s not deathcore if there isn’t, right?

The Last Ten Seconds of Life have always also had a nu-metal side, and it shows up at the beginning of “Liberation.” Bringing the chugs and some quick, almost rapped vocals to smack you so hard you’ll be shitting Korn. Tyler’s lows are on display, here again, sounding like a Phil Bozeman/Alex the Terrible hybrid this time. The breakdown near the end is vicious, but also once again expected. I think all these bands have the same breakdown at this point.

The final track because, shit, I might as well talk about all of them, is called “Annihilation Phenomena,” and starts out sounding like the heavy doom Worm has been bringing to the table, but not for long. This is for the most part a bruiser but does hint at some lighter aspirations with the section around 2 minutes in with some slightly less cavernous vocals, but of course, a breakdown follows.

My only issue is that at this point, as mentioned above, I don’t quite understand why deathcore bands keep spawning, and this is coming from a guy who loves his deathcore but is simply bored of it. It’s not attempting to slander The Last Ten Seconds of Life because they are good at what they do, and this EP solidifies it. I am interested to see what they do with the new lineup and sort of a rebirth in the future, but despite how good the new EP is, you’ve heard deathcore before and can probably just skip it.

[Visit the band's website]

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