Art of Deception Release New Single and Video: “Isolated”
When it comes to metal, I cut my teeth on 80’s and early 90’s thrash metal a la Exodus, Overkill, Death Angel, Nuclear Assault, etc. while also enjoying less thrashy stuff like Prong, Voivod and of course a good dose of death metal via Death, Cannibal Corpse, Carcass and Deicide. After 2000 or so, my musical focus was mostly on hardcore and punk, and as such I’m only loosely familiar with the metalcore / deathcore scene, though I have enough band mates that play it in the van, and I go to / a play enough shows with diverse bills that it’s far from outside of my realm. of knowledge.
So with that being said, Art of Deception from PA, bring a fucktastic dose of metalcore mixed with deathcore. They eschew the clean vocals that are often present in metalcore and stick to the powerful growls although they aren’t always full death, sometimes they are more akin to bands like Earth Crisis, Sick of it All or some Pantera in that they are guttural but still very intelligible.
There are so many great musical parts in this three minute metal banger. You’ve got groove laden metal riffs that want to make me go all kung fu in the pit, rapid fire riffs over are blast beats, double bass punctuated riffs that just fucking go at it, a synth that pops; and while unexpected, is fucking rad as hell, and more. If these dudes were a punk band, they’d be able to take all these parts and make a half dozens songs; instead, they’ve made one fucking killer tune.
Lyrically, the song focuses on mental health which is always an important topic, especially in the music scene. 30 years in music, and I’ve known far too many musicians who have suffered through mental health struggles and either ended their life through direct means or via long tortured self-abuse that they knew would eventually lead to their death. When I hear lyrics like this it, generally makes me think of Suicidal Tendencies when I was a teen or more recently, the punk band Off With Their Heads, both of which focused extensively on mental health. This is the stuff I always connected more with because it was more personal and really felt like it reflected my world, so I’m really feeling these lyrics.
One thing that stands out is how they make sure to accent certain lyrics with musical touches whether it’s the double bass and fast ass riffage under “throat” or the synth the comes in right as they declare, “I can no longer live with myself”.
But don’t just trust me, give their dope lyric video a watch:
Check out their Spotify and/or give them a listen on my Metal Playlist
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