Nefarious made quite the excitable splash upon impact. With my apatite shaped for the lighter sides of music, a throwback to playful extremities was on the cards. Despite having had my fun, repetition has exposed novelty as Hunt The Dinosaur's "over the top" fusion of Metalcore, Djent and rapid fire Rap screams runs its coarse. Sadly, this brief record fails to carve out a classic like Destructo from its octane insanity.
Across its six cuts we are bombarded by barbaric thumps of sound. Low end eight string guitar pound assaulting grooves between splashes of dissonant guitar noise. Snarling screams spit spiteful lyrics, occasionally hurtling into sprints of the distinct memorable shout raps. Lyrics play with foul themes and periodically reference classic Rap one liners and motifs. Ferocious drums rattle like a raging beast, foaming at the mouth, holding firm grooves, then sporadically hurtling into dizzying blast beats. Wedged between it all, alien dystopian synth occasional meld unusual textures, a subtle dressing often understated and easy to overlook among the ravaging madness.
My main takeaway is a lack of memorability. A lack of songwriting fails to land hooks and riffs in a way that sticks. Instead, Nefarious feels like a ceaseless barrage of ideas aimless assembled together, unable to forge a bigger picture beyond the sum of its parts. That, or perhaps I am growing tired of this Post-Deathcore race to the bottom.
Rating: 4/10