REVIEW [EXCLUSIVE]: Sever the King – Traitor [2013]
Band: Sever the King
Album: Traitor
Preview: Traitor
Before you start listening to the debut album ”Traitor” by the slamming Deathcore band Sever the King there are probably a few precautionary measures you should take. The first thing on your checklist would be to ensure you have a sick sound system with an even sicker subwoofer in working condition, another measure is to have about 20 sets of clean pants on standby. When these conditions are met you can begin the slaughtering, spine breaking breakdown-fest that is ”Traitor”. Whether its being used as a figure of speech or as an actual piece of advice, the term ”listen to this on high volume” gets tossed around within the Metal genre a lot, and that’s definitely the best term and the best advice I can give you when it comes to Sever the King, no seriously don’t just think it, fucking do it! The listener will quickly discover that this band has quite the love for massive chugging breakdowns, the kind you are always looking up on those Youtube breakdown compilations, well with this album the searching has been done for you so sit back, turn the bass up to however high it can go and be prepared for 40 minutes of intense Deathcore punishment.
The only moment of tranquillity you will have is when the intro of the first track ”Within My reach” starts to play but this serene atmosphere is not a long lasting one as you slowly hear a wall of heaviness approaching from the depths below. By the time you hear this you can consider escaping but it would already be too late, as the applicable words ”I HAVE YOU NOW” can be heard screaming at you. The heavy pressure builds up well into the second song ”Deconstructed” to the point where ”Traitor” finally reaches its maximum power and the raw guitar shredding and beastly drumming truly start cutting loose at you. ”Traitor” features massive amounts of bass drops and grooving to go along with the face punching breakdowns to ensure that the band’s iron grip on your throat never loosens, at times all these elements combined will seem like a avalanche rolling over you, escorted by underlying filthy guitar screeches, as can be heard on (but not limited to) the intro of ”Splinters” and ”Self Destruct”. Vocalist Joey Cruz does an amazing job in keeping up with these bestial walls of intstrumental punishment. Fueled with lyrical themes about (relatable) every day subjects and other various brutal topics, the venomous screams and growls pierce through the listener’s skin like a hot knife through butter. Though its hard to really make a choice, my personal favorite tracks would be ”Anonymous” , ”Envy and Doubt” and the self titled track, it is on these songs where the heavy weighing Deathcore instrumentals, the lyrics and grooving Hardcore styles are in perfect harmony (if you can call it that) and will motivate you to destroy the nearest thing within reaching distance. Only when you have been repeatedly battered, pummeled and blasted into oblivion will you be granted a moment of peace when reaching the final track ”The Atmos”, easeful guitars will be there to greet you, giving you some time to recover. You could go for another playthrough at this point but that would depend on the amount of clean pants you have left.
Believe it or not, ”Traitor” is an entirely self produced album, and looking at how it all turned out, thats a damn impressive achievement, making it the best self-production of recent times if not ever, not a bad start for an unsigned band. If you’re like me, and like your Deathcore to be filled with brutal breakdowns and sick guitar tunings and a overall heavy atmosphere, you will absolutely LOVE this album. ”Traitor” has set up a constant line made up from the heaviest materials of the Hardcore, Death Metal and Deathcore genres and aims to be as crushing and angry as it can possibly be, if you are looking for melody and loads of technicality in your music, look elsewhere because these things are scarcely present here, as they would only stagger this brutalizing musical assault. With summer around the corner, I can already tell for sure that ”Traitor” will serve as THE primary food source for my car (and other) speakers because of the addictive nature of the slamming grooves and bass drops that I love so much. satisfy your hunger for brutal music and give ”Traitor” a few spins and be sure to let your neighbors in on the fun.
Rating: 9.6
For fans of: My Autumn, Submissioner, Calmed By the Tides of Rain, Oceano, Suffokate, Carnifex, Face Your Maker
