Review Absurdity - D:/Evolution 2011

Tracks
1. Logical War Process
2. A Taste Of...
3. Sneaking Data
4. Death Kult Paranoia
5. Fallout
6. Rewind
7. Scorn & Ignorance
8. Concrete Brain
9. Novæ
10. The Ultimate Carnivore
11. [D]evolution

Band:
David Barada - Bass
Arnaud Seebald - Drums
Erik Escoffier - Guitar
Ricardo Gomes - Samples, Vocals
Cédric Belzunce - Vocals

Discography:
Urban Strife (EP 2007)
Industreatment (EP 2009)

Guests:

Info
Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Zoli Baker at Supersize Recordings Studios -Budapest-Hungary.

Released 4/11-2011
Reviewed 20/11-2011

Links:
absurdity-music.com
myspae
youtube
urban death records

Devolution: [deev-uh-loo-shuh]
-Noun: In common parlance, "devolution” is the notion that a species can change into a more "primitive" form. It is associated with the idea that evolution is supposed to make species more advanced, and that some modern species have lost functions or complexity and seem to be degenerate forms of their ancestors.
This is how they describe the thematic of the album, french band Absurdity who are focusing on how the machines like the “smartphones” and all of the technical stuff take the place of real knowledge which is something I think we can all see if we open our eyes and look at our surroundings. If you do not see this then you are one of those who has no genuine knowledge but always looks everything up on the web whatever the question you get or use the calculator to calculate the simplest of addition or subtraction, I see those people all the time. Many of the young today would not be able to survive in case the functions we count on today stops working, like electricity, the food deliveries, the water deliveries or anything like that. The technical evolution has led to a more comfortable life but also a fragile existence, I think that is what they are getting at with their D:/Evolution title.

Deathcore is what their music is described as and sure that seems to be correct as they have that chugging riffing style, the very aggressive vocals and the overall aggression that the deathcore genre would seem to point at. I also think you can describe their sound as quite sterile, almost like a machine or like rusted metal machinery from the sawmills of the dark forests of northern Sweden. It is also a modern sound, in that it is a clean sound that is quite polished leaving only room for the songs to be the centre of attention. The vocalist has a very aggressive vocal style filled with aggression and at times it is hard to make out if he is actually sining anything or only making noises with his voice, the vocal style cannot be said to be that varied as it sound more or less the same through the eleven tracks. At fist glance it would also sound much like your everyday deatchore band with the chugging riffs and aggressive vocals but when looking a little beneath the surface you will learn that there is more than that to the music of Absurdity.

At first glance it is not that interesting, it sound more or less than your everyday deathcore band and quite bland to be honest and I found myself not that impressed. I think though that when I got down beneath that deathcore surface I found something more, a more technical side to it and that feel of a hopeless future and a world in decline is conveyed through the music. I think what they do is really good, the music reflects the graphical side of the band very well, or maybe it is the other way round but the cover harmonise well with what we are hearing on this album. I think that the overall impression of this album is a very good one, the songs are good, their energy and brutality work really well and makes D:/Evolution a very entertaining album.

There are some not as good things though, in some parts of this album they move into chugging mode which makes it sounds kind of like the typical deathcore kind of music that I don’t really like that much. Fortunately these parts are just a few and do not take that much away from the whole of the album, another problem is a bit bigger though, the vocals are not that interesting. They lack in variation, the growling and grunting is sometimes so deep and dark that it is not remotely possible to make out words and that is another thing that I do not like but the overall lack of variation is the main detractor to the overall image of this band. I think though that despite these slight issues it is a good album, better than the Chimaira album I reviewed a while ago and a very good pick if you are interested in the genre.

D:/Evolution tells a good story and it is a good album that is being slightly let down by the lack of variation in the vocals, still overall I would say that I like this album and I recommend it for anyone who likes melodic extreme metal or deathcore.

HHHHHHH

Absurdity D:/Evolution

Absurdity
D:/Evolution