eOne Music - 2013
Honestly, there isn't much deathcore out there at this point that I tend to enjoy. Most really entirely too much on breakdowns or try to blend in djent elements to keep current and sound dime-a-dozen. This is not the case with Fit For An Autopsy. Their debut, 2011's The Process of Human Extinction was pure violence in audio format. They tended to stick much more towards the death end of the spectrum rather than the core, and the only thing that seemed to hold that album back was a less than stellar production. I also caught the band live back in 2012 on the Slaughter Survivors tour and their live presence was equally punishing.
This brings us to their newest offering, Hellbound. If you enjoyed The Process of Human Extinction, you will love this. Armed with a much more suitable production and much tighter and cohesive songwriting, Hellbound stands leaps and bounds above it's predecessor. The songs, while they aren't covering any new ground within the genre, provide a visceral feast that never becomes too tech-laden or rely too heavily on providing breakdown after breakdown. FFAA aren't afraid to pick up the pace on a regular basis (see "Dead In the Dirt" and "The Travelers") before slowing things down to a crawl and really giving a breakdown the breathing room it needs to be effective. The ending of "Children of the Corn Syrup" has to have the most punishing breakdowns I've heard in recent memory and is truly as viscous as corn syrup itself. Like their previous effort, the riffs tend to sit more at the death metal end of the spectrum, but there seems to be more character to them now, even occasionally dabbling into some dissonant and *gasp* melodic riffing. Don't worry, it's still very angry and abrasive, but the variety keeps it from becoming one-note and monotonous.
It's hard not to make note of Nate Johnson's guttural vocal approach as well. He has to have one of the most intense vocals within the genre at this point. Incredibly in-your-face and abrasive, there are a number of guest performances from members of The Acacia Strain and Thy Art is Murder (among others) but nothing seems to take the spotlight away from him. The lyrics can be anthemic (see "Still We Destroy"), yet occasionally they tackle more socio/political issues with more impact than you may expect (see "Thank You Budd Dwyer", "Children of the Corn Syrup").
While there really isn't much new brought to the table here, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better sounding album in the genre this year than Hellbound. FFAA has dotted all their I's and crossed all their T's with incredible conviction to the point that even non-genre listeners will stand up and hopefully take notice.
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