Codex Obscura's Concrete-Drenched "Feral in Abstract" is Deathcore Done Right
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If you don’t know this already, I am (and have been for a long time) a huge fan of deathcore. This sometimes sucks because, well, a lot of deathcore sucks, and lots of metalheads do agree on this point (but not all). Here’s a rule I’ve learned, though: no genre of metal is without its great albums, the types of releases that seem to break the bounds of a subgenre without abandoning its tenets, showcasing to all what makes a certain style of metal tick. The ability to speak outside the very clear demarcations between deathcore, for instance, and the rest of metal is no small feat, and invariably not everyone will be down for the journey (though I’ve always been in). In the case of Codex Obscura, a solo deathcore project from North Carolina, this is precisely what is happening. The mastermind behind it all goes by Miira who writes some of the most bombastic, energized, and hyper-heavy deathcore in all the lands. Codex Obscura has a debut full-length on the way later this year, but we’re stoked to unveil a new song “Feral in Abstract” now.
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Straight to the point: Until Death is unabashed, 110% deathcore to the motherfucking maximum. As for “Feral in Abstract” in particular, it’s all breakdowns, beatdowns, and throwdowns as techy guitar riffs explode with Beneath the Massacre-esque intensity on top of programmed drumming which can only be described as “impossible.” The resulting music is extremely pissed off, but doesn’t lose out on any opportunity to become saturated with melody (and even atmosphere) as even some technical death metal bleeds in. “Feral in Abstract” does not bank fully on its adjacency to tech-death, though, owing its true heart and passionate soul to deathcore sui generis. The song bleeds with its own brutality, unabashed and sensationally dramatic in all those special deathcore ways.
Even if deathcore isn’t your thing, the raw talent on display by Codex Obscura should be apparent; even if staccato breakdowns and post-processed insanity don’t float your boat, hopefully a song like “Feral in Abstract” can fill your oceans a bit. If not, just be glad it’s not Suicide Silence or Emmure taking the cake in this game, two bands which get a ton of deathcore credit but as of late have not delivered anything special (at least in my opinion). Until Death, however, is special, and that distinctiveness doesn’t ruin or spoil Codex Obscura in the slightest.
As for my oceans, Codex Obscura boils them. All hail deathcore that doesn’t suck.
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Until Death releases later this year. Stay in tune with Codex Obscura via Bandcamp and Facebook.
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