Deathcore has become quite the cesspool of ear gauging 20-something year-olds playing “Karate Kid” in the pit to the same old, recycled breakdowns. The good news, Fit For An Autopsy has the ability to write quality deathcore songs even for the most angry listeners. Their latest release, Absolute Hope, Absolute Hell (eOne Music), has been one of the better releases in the genre in the past few years, although that really does not say much for the genre as a whole. After digging through the incessant breakdowns, I was able to pick out some quality tracks to add to your workaround playlist for the gym.

Easily one of the standout tracks on the album is ‘Saltwound’. This song had more of a melodic death metal feel to it with deathcore sprinkled lightly on top. It was actually quite a refreshing sound that someone, if not Fit For An Autopsy, should probably pick up on. There were other tracks such as ‘Ghosts In The River’ as well as ‘Mask Maker’ that for 80% of the song would be something interesting but then get squashed out by another silly breakdown. Then again, every song on this album appears to be a breakdown (or two) that they wrote a song around.

For what it’s worth, Absolute Hope, Absolute Hell is an average to solid deathcore album. In the grand scheme of things though, this record will probably not hold water to some other staples in the genre. It honestly pains me to see deathcore albums continue to come out that sound exactly the same as the last. In fact, half of the time I am listening to a new deathcore band, I just think they are either Whitechapel or Suicide Silence. As for Fit For An Autopsy, and most importantly this album, they are able to write to a standard held by deathcore fans but still will find difficulty in gaining new fans outsides of the genre. It has been said that deathcore is this generation’s “nu-metal” and, sadly, that is not far off.

5.0/10

TIM LEDIN