First off I'm just going to get this out of the way, I fucking love deathcore.  There I said it.  I have come to enjoy this particular genre of music since its inception a few years back.  It's essentially the light version of death metal made more accessible through(if you can actually put it that way) the inclusion of breakdowns and pig squeals.  Essentially it's like taking tough guy hardcore such as “Hatebreed” and mixing it with “Cannibal Corpse.”   Hated by many in that it delivers the speed of most death metal and the groove of tough guy hardcore/metalcore, and the violent vigor of hardcore.  It's fun.  It makes your head bob up and down to the grooves.  It's just great guilty pleasure brutal music.  Whether to take it as a serious force or not is up to you.  I'm going to go through some demos of either lesser known or unsigned bands and give you the skinny on some of the better stuff out their.  So here it goes.  I love metal.  I love death metal.  I love hardcore.  So this should be fun.  Or boring.  Depends on what side of the street you are on.

Fit for an Autopsy - Hell on Earth:  Holy shit!!!  I hear Acacia Strain.  I hear utter heavinesss.  The lead vocalist seriously sounds like 380 pound lumberjack with a beard full of sawdust.  When he declares, “This is hell on earth,” I have to say that I believe him.  I'd say the same thing if I hadn't consumed no less than three Big Macs in twenty seconds also.  This isn't the most original or the most violent but goddamn is this shit heavy.  Gonna have to put it next to The Acacia Strain for favorite brooooottttaaaallll shit.  Standard instrumentation.  Somewhat technical drumming with killer breakdowns.  Not noodley guitar stuff thank goodness.  That can get old some times.

Giddy Up Gangsta - Demo:  Uhhhhh they took a samlple straight from the beginning of “Dead Silence.”  Pretty typical.  Nothing to really write home about.  I'm glad it's only two songs because this kind of stuff is what can make deathcore so boring.  Typical pick squeal and high growl type dual vocals.  Some weird spoken word poppycock over a half-hearted guitar solo in the first song. Decent breakdown though.  They definitely utilize two vocalists.  Nothing to see here folks.  Now move along.

A .12 Gauge Tragedy - Requiem:  Starts off with a “Pulp Fiction” quote.  Another reason to love deathcore.  They sample good movies.  For no apparent reason what so ever.  This has sort of a dark thick Florida death metal production.  Not too bad.  Couple good bruisers for breakdowns here and their.  The vocalist enunciates words pretty well.  I must say I like the enveloping and bass-emphasized guitar tone of this particular demo.  I give it two thumbs up.

Aphotic Murder - When in Rome ep:  Starts off with another sample.  Some kind of floating underwater sound to me.  Whatever.  This has a brevity to it.  Seems to have a vicious upbeat attack.  The breakdown that comes in 1:41 of the song is pretty sick and gets you wanting to move.  Has a techno beat near the end of it too(What?  Techno beat?).  This ep has a lot of good variation in the breakdowns and instrumentation.  It's no Necrophagist or Obscura.  This has an attack to it.  I don't know it's just vicious.

Best for last..........
Deadrise - The Ethics of Extermination:  Extermination indeed this is.  This is the only one so far that actually sounds the angriest.  Begin rant:  Why is an intro ALWAYS necessary?  I can't think of too may deathcore ep's or albums that don't begin with some dorky intro.  Cut to the chase guys.  Sheeeshs.. End rant.  This starts out sounding like Chant.  Skip track.  Holy shit this is mad mad stuff.  Really fast and thrashy with a really angry vocalist.  Then the breakdown of the first song.  Wow!!!!  The first band I've listened to so far that actually is not trying to sound angry.  They sound like they ARE angry.  Nothing over techy or pretentious.  Just genuinely pissed off deathcore that is fast and has some real crushers for break downs.

So that ends this edition of “A Deathcore Extravaganza.”  Tune in next time and I will bring more deathcore.  More breakdowns.  More dying pig squeals and also some genuine recirculated candied corn from 1923.  Lata kids.

- Darrel