Lynchmada – To The Earth (2011)

Arriving from Australia today we have another run-of-the-mill Metalcore band that while having a few fine moments, it still falls short of being interesting and truly engaging. Lynchmada and their second full-length release “To The Earth” pack 11 tracks (50 minutes of music) of uninspired typical Metalcore that makes you wonder if the world of Metalcore itself is devoid of creativity.

The album starts with the brutal “What Fresh Hell is This”, a very typical song that has powerful guitars and inhuman growls, making you believe this is actually a Deathcore release. The catchiness really starts on “Throat of Stone”, where the band shows off some nice groovy riffs but fails to move away from the traditional song structures of the genre. The breakdowns mark their first appearance here, and while there is some nifty guitar work here and there, there is nothing more to really enjoy.

Songs like “Broken Bones”, “Earth I walk”, Blackout”, and “Burial Ground” fly by without the slightest hint of something really interesting to pay attention other than the predominant traditional Death Metal influences in some parts. “Harbirnger” is the first track that delivers something ‘out of the norm’ for this band with a hint of bands like Isis and The Ocean, but this might have been accidental. The only song we half-liked has to be the super catchy and super cliché “Twenty Seven Years”, a very typical Metalcore track, but with some nice melodic riffing.

The ballad-esque “City of Lungs” nicely breaks the monotony and sounds a bit more like Alternative Rock, but it is at least something different where the clean vocals actually sound decent. Near the end this track also converts back into the vanilla Metalcore the band plays, leaving only 90% of a decent song behind. The closer “Relic” pretty much summarizes how this release goes: semi-catchy riffing, growls, clean vocals, breakdowns, and a few decent hooks here and there.

If you like dull and very ‘normal’ sounding Metalcore, then this is the album for you. The band has decent musicians, but until they decide to have an own sound, Lynchmada will be just one of many competing for the Metalcore crowd. We have heard considerably better Metalcore releases, so do yourself a favor and skip this one.

Release: October 2011

Country: Australia