Annotations of an Autopsy - Before the Throne of Infection

Before the Throne of Infection has been and always will be one of my favorite deathcore albums. I don’t really know what the definition of so-called “pussy deathcore” because some of the deathcore bands out there are some of the most brutal metal bands of all-time. And by that I mean Suicide Silence, Whitechapel, Through the Eyes of the Dead, Ingested, A Different Breed of Killer, Eviscerated, and Annotations of an Autopsy. Although Annotations have moved more in a traditional death metal direction with their 2010 release, deathcore has always been deep in their roots. Here’s something for those of you that like all of that death grind and brutal slamming death metal stuff: Steve, the vocalist, does INHALES! He’s one of the best inhalers I’ve ever heard and was somewhat upset when I heard him just using exhales in their second album. But I’m not going to let that ruin this album for me. Not only that, these guys have brutal death backgrounds instead of only coming from the deathcore/metalcore scene.

This album has an intro and an interlude that are really soft electric guitar solos that honestly aren’t SUPER impressive, but are more than enough to make me happy. I especially love how the transition from the softness to the heavier, darker sound in the intro is very smooth and doesn’t have a sudden, explosive change. I guess this is because the drums aren’t very loud, with the guitars being the tent covering the rest of the band. Speaking of guitars, the guitarists aren’t extraordinarily talented, but oh man are they creative! And I’m not saying that their specific parts are ultra-creative, I’m talking about how they (and every other member of the band) do a perfect job of keeping the music engaging and addicting. A lot of what they do is a really deep “chugging” that is actually the base of the brutality contained in the album.

The drumming is where all the action is, literally. The musician that does the most work in this album is the drummer by far. When you listen closely to all of the things that he’s doing during songs like Sludge City, Fisted to the Point of Regurgitation, and Human Dust, it may not sound any better than a lot of other deathcore and brutal death drummers out there; but it’s something that has much, much more creativity and thought put into it other than just a fancy blast beat with some slower fills. But remember what I said, it’s not that the musicians are amazing; it’s their songwriting and creative abilities.

Probably one of my favorite things that is used in the deathcore genre is that cylindrical bar the drummer hits to create a paralyzing bass boom that shakes the walls and runs through your whole body. I especially find this tasty when it’s used during the two slowest and most brutal breakdowns on the album. The unfortunate thing about this is that it’s very easy to overuse (like bands like Bring me the Horizon, Emmure, Monsters, and Winds of Plague have done). My favorite songs from this album are Human Dust, Sludge City, and Years of Disgust.

Sludge City is just an outright brutal deathcore song that is true to the genre and never fails to lighten up. Human Dust is a great track because of the abstract vocal pattern that’s put on top of the chugging music in the beginning and in some other parts. Years of Disgust is by far my favorite. The DEEP bass bombards your ears in the beginning and then the drummer hits that goddamn bass boom bar (I should call it the BBB) to send chills down your spine. This is an outstanding record and is definitely something that deathcore-hating brutal death and grind fans should look up because it might surprise you. I would give this 20/20.