The Pitch: Experience crushing, djenty, "visceral and doom-laden" deathcore out of Denmark's Cabal with their debut LP from Long Branch Records/SPV. Featuring guest appearances from CJ McMahon (Thy Art Is Murder) and Filip Danielsson (Humanity’s Last Breath)
What I Like: Literally two days before I recieved this promo, I had just been talking about how intense the Copenhagen hardcore scene has been getting. Between groups like Hexis and Telos, Denmark is the place to be for dark, blackened music. Well, it seems that they can get downright brutal as well. I don't go looking for deathcore, but occasionally a real gem ends up finding me. Mark Of Rot is pretty much the definition of big, dumb moshpit music. That's not a complaint, either. You will find few groups in the genre these days, even those in the top tier, putting out records this f#@king heavy.
Cabal exist in some alternate universe where Meshuggah decided to go deathcore. The band utilizes similar riffs, albeit often in a simplified format. There still some toy with timing on certain tracks, but not to the level of their Swedish peers. Nonetheless, the distortion, groove, and vocals are all of cataclysmic proportions. The varied snarls and gutterals of Andreas Bjulver Paaru will leave craters in your skull; and when joined with the crashing drums and pummeling riffs, you'll be lucky to have a head left on your shoulders. I also appreciate that the band shakes things up with symphonic elements on "Rah'Ru."
Critiques: Deathcore guest features make me chuckle. As is the case here, the vocalists often sound so similar that I can't tell them apart anyways. It seems as if including people from bigger name bands is merely serving as a marketing device to build name recognition. Nothing wrong with that. If your music is this good, it still pays to get that extra push from friends in higher places.
The Verdict: File this one under my overused adjective of CRUSHING. With Mark Of Rot, Cabal set out to break bones and that is exactly what you're going to get. Despite the lacking innovation, I could see this one ending up on my top enjoyment list in June for sure.
Flight's Fav's: False Light, Unworthy, Whispers
-Review by FlightOfIcarus
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