CRUELTY IN THE GARDEN
“HIDDEN REALITY”
Genre: Deathcore
Label: Drop A Records
Release Date: June 2013
Rating: 7/10
Cruelty in the Garden is a Polish deathcore band slated to release their sophomore album, Hidden Reality, this month with Drop A Records. The album is riffy, heavy, and chock full of breakdowns and two-step moments. While not amazing, Hidden Reality is a solid deathcore album.
Hidden Reality clocks in at 23 minutes, but they pack five originals, a Sepultura cover, and an alternate version of one of their songs into that time. That being said, the album doesn’t feel frantic. Each song is given the necessary time to progress, which includes many clean introductions and interludes among a slew of riffs, breakdowns, and growls.
The album is well produced; all instruments and vocal tracks feel balanced with the others, and everything is incredibly heavy. The rhythm section packs a hefty punch on the album, and the guitar riffs are solid, if not groundbreaking.
When Hidden Reality draws to a close, it feels natural and well timed. Any shorter, and the album would have felt brief and unfinished; any longer, and the album would have felt lengthy and overproduced. Hidden Reality is a solid effort, but it runs into the standard deathcore trap of feeling unoriginal, because nothing about it stands out in a hugely deflated genre, with the exception of “Before Tomorrow Had to Come,” which has an interesting, hollow sounding production to it. It’s 2013, however, and Myspace is dead, which means deathcore has to break the mold to be worth of remembrance. Cruelty in the Garden’s sophomore release is a solid, if not particularly memorable, record.
Vince B –
