After the Burial - Evergreen

One of the more prominent pioneering names associated with djent-flavored deathcore and progressive metalcore, After the Burial have long struggled to keep pace with the big boys in their field like Periphery, but struggle well they have with each successive pouring out of punchy down-tuned aggression onto an album over the past few years despite the setbacks ranging from frustrating to tragic that they’ve experienced.
And as much as Evergreen is a continuation of the band playing to their strengths and doing what they know works well for them, it’s not going to be the album that gets them level in the standings with Periphery, Chelsea Grin, or Fit for an Autopsy.
Yet as safe as it is, I somehow find myself at least somewhat enjoying it. I don’t know, maybe I’m just in such a good mood with all the good releases that have come out lately, or maybe I’m just starved for new djent right now. But either way, it’s hardly a masterpiece or a groundbreaking release for this style of music, and it’s probably not going to be changing the minds of detractors or fans.
The song “Behold the Crown” kicks the album off with some infectious enough djenty grooves and excessive accenting guitar squeals, and the subsequent “Exit, Exist” finds itself grooving pretty heavily when it reaches its climactic breakdown and coda.
But the band lose their grip on the focus they drew to themselves through the first two tracks by way of repetition of so many of djent’s clichés, even if they do execute with evident proficiency. The band rely on the natural heaviness of open 8-string chugging to carry the album energetically over its mostly one-note, sometimes desperately layered unclean vocals and brief flairs of prog.
I did rather enjoy the faster guitar leads and less redundant djent groove of “The Great Repeat” and “To Challenge Existence”, which also features some long-overdue interestingly industrial-tinged guitar work, before the album’s closing track rips right back into the well of typical djentcore ideas.
For the most part, the album bleeds together into a representation of early 2010’s djent. And as experienced as After the Burial show themselves to be on their sixth album, Evergreen is serviceable and safe and, it’s doing more to solidify their mid-tier status than it’s doing to raise them to the next level.
You already know how it goes/10

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