I remember the hype for Spite's new album last year as one of the best bands doing pure deathcore out there, and although I slightly overlooked the singles, I remembered them enough that when the album dropped, I was like "isn't the song with the really groovy breakdown on this one?" and decided to check it out.
I've gotta admit that I'm not the biggest fan of classic deathcore, and the roots are evident, so I wasn't expecting to fall in love with it, but I was still quite pleasantly surprised by the quality of the better cuts on this record. Lord Of The Upside Down is a killer first track, especially with that double-kick breakdown, but the verses are super groovy as well. Caved In was the single that kept my attention long enough to decide to listen to the album, mostly because of that tasty groove right after the first verse, I just love how it makes me want to move. Made To Please didn't actually catch my eye that much, but it definitely has one of the more popular breakdowns of that year.
If it isn't obvious already, my favourite thing about Spite is their infectious grooves. In a genre with little melody, few bands can actually make their music interesting to those only adjacent to deathcore, but a good groove never fails, and they've got good grooves. I have to also mention Darius's vocals are great, there's this subtle but unique texture to his screams that makes him stand out as a vocalist. The instrumentation is great too, the guitarwork is full of well-used dissonance and chugs, and the drumming from Baby J is nothing but perfection.
Dedication To Flesh is not an album that I am head over heels for, but I love coming back to it for the grooves, and it makes for a great workout soundtrack. It's clear that they're one of the best modern pure deathcore bands for a reason, and even I can enjoy what is otherwise a pretty indecisive genre for me.
Rating: 7/10