Demeanor, a Baltimore based metalcore band formed in 2012, hit the ground running this week with their debut EP "Divinity". The EP kicks off with the track "Welcome to the Progression", aptly named, seeing as the entire EP is a progressive journey filled with fantastic guitar, drum, and vocal work. "Welcome to the Progression" itself reflects many different styles. Its intro resembles that of a death metal song, but it soon transitions into a slower, heavier style, while maintaining beautiful, technical solo work. This solo work continues throughout the whole EP, both behind the vocals and standing on its own. The band does a great job of keeping the lead guitar prominent while not making it excessive, which is one of the things that really makes this album. The next three songs on the album are all super heavy. The fantastic riffage and drumming, accompanied by heavy vocals, keep you headbanging, while also keeping you engaged with multiple different transitions. It took a while to warm up to the small parts of the songs with clean vocals. They give off a pop-punk vibe, which somewhat deterred me at first, but after a few listens, they seemed to fit more with the music and didn't take away from the instrumentation. The final track on the EP, "Seventeen", has the longest examples of these parts. It starts out with an entirely clean vocal/guitar intro, but soon follows in the heavy footsteps of the preceding songs, ending the EP with a bang.
The best part about this EP is the little things that the band experimented with, such as the sludgy bass solo in the song "Ashland King" that comes out of nowhere, giving the part a doom metal vibe, or the changing of lyrical structures throughout similar parts of songs. Things like these take their great songs one step further, making it to where the listener is never bored.
Demeanor is a fantastic group of musicians. Never once did I find any aspect of the music lacking. The rhythm guitar was varying and creative, and carried the songs, same with the bass and vocals. The lead guitar was equally as great, laying down masterful riffs at one point, and beautiful technical work at another. The drumming did a wonderful job of adding to the variation as well. With a lot of metalcore, you'll find entire songs where the drums just follow the guitar, making the songs somewhat plain. The drumming on this record switched between that style and a very speedy thrash/death style, making it a headbanger's paradise. This entire EP is truly a reflection of the band's different influences, and stands out in a sea of modern metal being put out. I look forward to more releases from them.
I definitely recommend checking "Divinity" out. You can download it for FREE right here .
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