Degrader’s “Beautiful Lie” hits hard in familiar metal territory (review)

There’s no denying that we’re experiencing a renaissance in the metallic hardcore genre in recent years. Spearheaded by acts like Knocked Loose and Code Orange, heavy bands are hitting harder, drawing wider influences, and overall keeping the style of music alive and well to a new generation of fans. Rockland, Massachusetts band Degrader is part of this driving force, and is a name I recognized from their earlier years getting music videos onto the BeheadingtheTraitor YouTube channel. The band looks to drop their second record, Beautiful Lie, tomorrow off Modern Empire.

For this release, Degrader provided some background on the song titles on Twitter:

These themes are explored in the lyricism of each track – a lot of which focus on pretty fresh ideas. It’s compelling how single words can describe such complex, relatable feelings.

Instrumentally, the band carries a wide array of sounds that varies between each track. I heard bits and pieces, such as Hundredth in the intro of “Odogaron” and driving echo-ey riffs a la Invent, Animate in Zenosyne. What Degrader captures most consistently though is the punishing slow breakdowns of Knocked Loose, the bounciness of Gideon, etc etc. Listening to Beautiful Lie is like getting a grab bag of some of the biggest names in the wide gamut of metalcore/hardcore.

Aside from sounding familiar, Degrader can stand out on their own – I found the “One life / face death First strike / last breath” line in “Odogaron” worthy enough to stick in listener’s heads, and there’s a few other moments like this on Beautiful Lie. Features on the record include Joseph Todd of Bloodline and Nick Chance of Distinguisher, both of which make a welcome addition to the controlled chaos.

A big plus-side is the variety on hand from start to finish – some heavier albums maintain the same pace, structure, stylings, etc. from track 1 to finish, but that’s not the case here with Degrader. While some pieces like “Sonder” include clean vocals, bridges, and lack breakdowns, others are relentless, crushing hardcore bops that will incite the nastiest of pits when shows return. Thanks to strong production and polished songwriting, this will be a very encouraging first listen for many.

While March 5th is the biggest release date of 2021 so far, metal fans will do well to make time for Degrader’s Beautiful Lie. While not a trailblazer, Degrader has a strong handle on their sound and will make plenty of heads bang starting tomorrow. Great starting points are “Odogaron”, “Morii”, and “Beautiful Lie”.

Degrader’s Beautiful Lie releases March 5th, 2021, off Modern Empire Music.

Rating: 8/10

A press copy of Beautiful Lie was provided courtesy of Degrader.