DESTRUCTION OF A ROSE – “Suspended in Time”

You might as well have already heard this

You have read so many times how melodic metalcore is so big at the moment and how it suffocates everything around it. And of course when you read a review of such an album, the band is not “one of those” and “stands out with something”. And then when you hear the album you die of boredom, because it seems you’ve heard it all before, you fall asleep and never play it again…

Well, that’s not quite the case with Destruction of a Rose. The band is exactly “one of those” and the album is exactly the type of melodic American hardcore you have heard so many times before, you swear if you hear one more song like that you’re going to kick a little kid holding a balloon in the face! All the riffs, all the breakdowns, all the “unpredictable” song structures, everything the vocalist does, all the screams, all the melodic singing…You have been there before.

…But on the other hand why are these dudes from Las Vegas to blame that we have listened to more than one album in the past 10 years? The music industry and the attention of fans and media aren’t driven by common sense. See – bands like AC/DC and Motörhead have been kicking the same dead horse for decades now and no one seems to complain, do they? So Destruction of a Rose just might as well get away with “Suspended in Time”?

Songs like opener “Elixir Vitae” and its extra eerie intro riff or “Cries of the Dying” and the extra evil vocals in the verses, might be enough to do the trick. They’re cool. The band’s decision to stick mostly to screaming vocals at least for me is a good one. It is better this way, when the music is “metal as fuck and raises the dead from their graves”, in guitarist Nick Rose’s words, instead of being another pop sensation your little sister listens to. Yet for the first single they have chosen “Under Black Flags We Sail” which features mostly melodic vocals, but this is still far from the Attack Attack! levels of gayness.

And yes – an album that has the name Tim Lambesis of As I lay Dying on it as the producer sure isn’t going to be that bad. “Suspended in Time” is actually quite decent and the people who like this type of music sure are going to enjoy it a lot. But if the band really wants to outlive a trend or two, Destruction of a Rose will have to think of something new.

Verdict: 4 / 6

More info:
Official band MySpace
“Under Black Flags We Sail” video