I wouldn’t say I listen to much melodic death metal at all. Lamb of God I suppose if we’re going by the RIYL line for Under the Deep by Montreal’s [Evertrapped]. Mostly because I find much of it sounds the same and it stopped doing it for me years ago. That’s not to say I wasn’t cautiously optimistic about hearing this one.
After the intro track things started out pretty good. Ample aggression and obvious chops. Good, good. Definitely melodic death. Nothing offensive to my intelligence. Not weak. And I can pick up bits of bands like At the Gates, Devildriver and lots of Soilwork. Okay.
Concussive rhythms mix with blazing runs often with melodies shifting beneath the weight. Stop/start dynamics find their place giving the spine a workout. The drummer puts on a veritable clinic and the throaty cop/raspy cop vocals are well-executed.
Now this is all fine and good, I suppose. In measured doses. At least for me. Where I find issue with this non-djent (thankfully) slab of technical aggression is how there isn’t much to differentiate [Evertrapped] from other bands of their ilk. Or even themselves. They follow much the same formula as their kind and keep that formula consistent across the album. It’s good to have a style but I shouldn’t have to check the track number multiple times thinking I’ve circled back around.
Don’t let me discourage you too much though. Like I said, I don’t consider melodic death metal to be an area I delve into often. But the songs never fall short on aggression or musicianship and I’m sure they pull shit off live.
If melo-death is your thing, especially At the Gates and Soilwork, then [Evertrapped] and Under the Deep fall right into your wheelhouse. You can find them on almost all those streaming platforms so you might as well check them out.
Released October 16, 2015 on Hellstorm Recordz
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