Song: Paledusk - SLAY!! (feat. Hideyoshi) [2022]

Ah Paledusk, the metalcore chaotics of Japan. I was completely enraptured by the kind of cohesive chaos that they pulled off on AREA PD, and going slightly further back into their discography, there was SLAY!!. This song is arguably more chaotic than AREA PD, but it definitely is equally as fun if not more.

SLAY!! mainly appealed to be because What The Fuck Is That Riff. Not a music theory guy but those three chords at the end of the riff are TASTY. Outside of that, the guitarwork throughout this song is actually super solid, lots of funky riffage and even swancore-esque fast tapping leads. The post-chorus riff is tasty too. Speaking of funky, they have sax. Immediate funk.

In true Paledusk fashion, the song structure is all over the place. One moment, it's a metalcore chorus, the next, Hideyoshi is dropping a rap verse on top of electronic beats. They even throw in a rock solo at the end of the song, oddly well juxtaposed against the amalgamation of guitar, drums and sax. Also in the name of chaos, the time signature changes are absolutely unwarranted but they do it anyways. Did I mention the breakdown? Sometimes I forget there's a breakdown because its overlapped with the solo, but the djentiness is appreciated.

Paledusk is always hard to describe, with how insane they are. It's something best experienced rather than read, because the true nuance of their chaos is something I can't even attempt to put into words. And I need to make sure its clear to everyone, all this chaos they are capable of is backed by some insane technicality and skill. Paledusk is not a band to be messed with, that's for sure.

Rating: 3.5/5

Song: Paledusk - AREA PD [2022]

This song is the epitome of chaos in metalcore. In fact, if chaoscore was a thing, this would definitely be categorised as chaoscore. Paledusk is a band that's slowly rising up and gaining popularity, in part for their crazy tracks that are full of twists and turns, incorporating genres and styles that shouldn't work together but do. I have to give Nik Nocturnal credit for putting a spotlight on this band and this track, although it wasn't my first time hearing them. I've actually listened to Paledusk's SLAY!! before, but for some reason never cemented any impression of it.

The band packs a lot into three minutes, putting close to ten wildly different sections together. Despite that, it feels like there's some kind of logical flow to it, a very odd yet unique way of connecting each part to the next. Their transitions from section to section are expertly done in a way that doesn't feel jarring despite the contrasting juxtaposition, which is a feat considering how some moments in the song are designed to be jarring.

The moment the song starts, you can tell this is a youthful and energetic band. Pumping and energetic riffs pummel you from the get-go, and they won't hesitate to slot in a sudden electronic sound to throw you off. Barely thirty seconds in, the band throws a crazy riff at the listener that has a pretty crazy harmonic part in it.

The chorus completely switches the soundscape, with happy-sounding electronics leading the overtones. They follow it up with a slowed tempo, a really weird section that even electronicore doesn't really explain, and then they go right ahead for breakdown number one. The buildup is the right length and extremely exciting, the "Eughh" is satisfyingly brutal, and the riff is super fun. I especially love that for the latter half of the breakdown, it wasn't just a simple half-time modification on the drum beat, they changed up the drum pattern entirely, which made it so much more interesting.

I wasn't expecting to hear a keyboard section, but somehow it fit? They threw in half a second of a breakbeat-esque trap beat pattern too, and I have no idea how they made it work. They just keep going too, putting in a short lower-register vocal part that sounds cool and ominous.

The final breakdown riff made me laugh the first time I heard it. It's pretty simple too, but I really didn't expect a band to spam a hammer-on on a riff so many times. The breakdown part two, with the lower-and-slower trope, is surprisingly the most predictable thing in this whole song.

I can't comprehend how much writing there is in this song, every section is unique and nothing is repeated. They don't even have a proper chorus. It's already astounding that they managed to make a cohesive track at all, much less such a fun and listenable one. I kept finding myself going back to this track and enjoying the many ridiculous moments scattered throughout this wild card of a song. This track singlehandedly got me excited to follow and hear what Paledusk has in store in the near future, and is definitely one of the most fun modern metal songs of the year.

Rating: 4/5