Of Salt And Swine - Lights Out

If you follow this website you know I’ve got nothing against bands that mix hardcore with metal. When it’s done right, the results can powerful. But on the other hand, there’s a danger that if you inject too much of that metal sound into your music your risk losing the hardcore feel. And when it happens, most of the vitality and energy is lost for me(check the last album from Sworn Enemy if you don’t know what I mean).
So this is no surprise that I’m not a big fun of deathcore genre. No matter how I twist and turn it, this style fails to appeal to my liking. Unfortunately, that’s what Of Salt And Swine is about. Just like deathcore album should, Lights Out showcases plenty of down-tuned guitars, guttural screaming, blast beats and groove breakdowns. With very little variety, all the tracks tend to be indistinguishable from each other as the album drags on with no trace of vitality. And it’s not even band’s fault I suppose, cause they seem to be pretty good musicians after all, but the nature of the genre make it all sound so horribly pre-judged and forced. The fact that the band does very little to distance itself from typical deathcore sound doesn’t help at all. Anyway, if you’re into deathcore you might find this album entertaining, otherwise you will get heavily disappointed.

Review by Dloogi
Label: Innerstrength Records
Year: 2010
Band's website