Dead And Divine / Antimacy / Distort Ent.
“Being an artist is dragging your innermost feelings out and giving a piece of yourself,”. Quoting Henry Rollins may be absurd but it fits Dead And Divine’s ruthless demeanor and how they choke out their breed of metalcore with personal struggle and harrowing honesty. Antimacy – their third studio cut – is full of it. Drawing more blood from The Fanciful’s open flesh wound of ripping rhythms, the Burlington five-tet have re-worked their sound, letting a year-long effort force out an intrepid rush of material that laces Hollow Crown with Gutter Phenomenon. What prevents Antimacy from collapsing into a half dead underground release is the band’s approach. The breakdowns are impetuous, the drum work is sharp and vocalist Matt Tobin’s growl is grim and lovely.
When there’s a drop in melody, Dead And Divine pass on dispensing a simplistic riff. What proceeds are mid-song transitions that scar the inside of your eardrum (“Carcinoma”) and rhythmic attrition from guitarists Chris LeMasters and Sebastian Leuth that so desperately tries to carve out a voice. Their desire to be original is enough to get drunk off of with “Midnight Society” bouncing around until an alt metal bass groove erupts and “Grim Love” letting punk and hardcore guitars straddle a fine-tuned vocal melody. The structure, the attitude and lyrical art all seem done before but the way the group filter it and spit it back out is almost unnatural. The best part? To them, it’s just intuitive.
Download: “Carcinoma”, “Grim Love”, “Teenage Rot”
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