Newcastle’s XisForEyes are a deathcore band that claim to not take themselves too seriously, their brand of brutal music laced with black metal and an intensity that is sometimes difficult to listen to without feeling as though a small hole has been made in the side of your head and a drill is now swirling your brain matter around like a tornado. But, as strange as that may seem, that doesn’t have to be a negative thing.
Their brand new EP ‘Insidious Existentialism’ is heavy and sinister; certainly backing up most of what is aspires to be with technical efficiency, but never quite hitting the mark when it comes to groundbreaking originality. The songs are well crafted and the onslaught they create is something to appreciate, especially the furious guitar playing and non-stop thrashing drums. The vocals are more coarse shouting than the growls and screams that can be associated with deathcore, but they are indistinguishable from one part of the song to the next, and the rate at which they are spat out seems almost exactly the same throughout.
The instrumental resourcefulness is the standout quality within the five songs of this EP, especially in opening track ‘The Sermon’ which is by far my favourite. The intro keys are odd and unnerving, which is perhaps a sign of what is to be expected from the recording as a whole. There are melodic undertones, the chorus becoming uplifting which is not always commonplace for deathcore. The vocals drone on a bit and I find myself wanting to skip ahead, but I don’t and what the song becomes is an adept piece of metal music.
However, ‘The Sermon’ is the highlight and it does seem to go downhill from there. Second track ‘Ubiquitous Deterrent’ starts with an angry riffing intro which slows down into powerful chugs. The song has lots of parts, many ideas coming together but nothing really sticking. The guitar layering is peculiar, as it is with most of the songs on this EP, and I found that to be the most intriguing element of this song in particular. ‘The Ark’ screeches into some thundering drums and orchestral keys, but unfortunately this track is forgettable due to fact that is doesn’t once commit to a good idea it stumbles across. It seems to race ahead of itself and because of that the song feels like a barrage of noise and not much more.
The fourth track, ‘Telos’, again shows off the skilful musicianship of the band, creating an atmosphere of dread and despair, but yet again (and at this point I’m most definitely a frustrated listener) it seems like a brainstorm of ideas that doesn’t even have the intention of coming together. There’s a wonderful section of keys that reminds me of a Hitchcock movie, but it doesn’t last long enough and it’s over before I get the chance to enjoy it fully. The final track, ‘The Crow Road’, has the best melodies of any track on the EP and it finally feels like a song with purpose. There are multiple layers of screaming vocals, tension driven keys and melodies that balance the whole song very well. The outro riff is very Slayer-esque and ends the EP on a certain high note.
Overall, I don’t think there’s enough diversity in ‘Insidious Existentialism’ to make it a great group of songs, but it’s passionate enough and holds a torch to the genre it quite obviously pays constant homage to. I didn’t hear much of the band’s trademark ‘sense of humour’ in the tracks, but that can be witnessed in the video for lead track ‘The Sermon’.
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