Filled with plenty of tasty & crunchy guitar riffage, pounding rhythms, and blistering vocals, Iscariot's debut Lifeless Design is a solid if somewhat generic sounding metalcore offering. Judging by the band photo, these guys are pretty young, which makes the talent that already seems to be brimming and meshing here all the more important as the band continues to grow and mature. There's no shortage of massive thrash and death metal guitar riffs here, such as on the crushing "Hallowed Eyes" and "Scars Are Perfection", with the two players weaving all sorts of intricate lines and power chords around each other, even throwing in some inspired harmonies that really work well. Then you have the completely brutal numbers like "Reinventing the Ghost", "Carnal Shade of Darkness", and "Forged From Revulsion", with rampaging drum work and evil vocal screams, combining massive hardcore breakdowns and death metal savagery. What keeps Iscariot from the rest of the pack right now is the one-dimensional vocal attack of Derrick Harding, who needs to add a little variety to his non-stop barrage of screams. The band writes heavy, intense, extreme metal songs, but with so many other bands doing the constant scream-o thing, they need to add something a little different to their sound to take things to the next level. With the guitar abilities these guys have, and their knack for putting together memorable arrangements, if they can get Harding to add some variety to his vocal delivery, look out world.
Track Listing
1. The Gates Of The Flames (Instrumental)
2. Scars Are Perfection
3. Dismembered Embrace
4. Hallowed Eyes
5. Reinventing The Ghost
6. Seventh Story Orchestra
7. Carnal Shades Of Darkness
8. The Prospect of Malice
9. Forged From Revulsion
10. Our Lifeless Design
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