I think I’ve talked about it before, but metalcore has evolved into what I’ve seen referred to as “Octanecore.” That’s the combination of metalcore and hard-rock, where metalcore bands become more palatable for mainstream audiences by throwing in more hard-rock sounds and ideas, named for Octane Radio, but it’s not all bad. Some of my favorite bands went in that direction, especially Beartooth with their last couple of albums. Their last LP is a metalcore album with some of the best hooks I heard all heard, and it worked awfully well, but that’s because Caleb Shomo is one of the best songwriters in the scene. That’s not true for every band, unfortunately, but there are tons of decent ones in this space.
Enter the band Defects, a British band that’s been getting a little bit of buzz, especially with their debut album, Modern Error, being finally released. I saw this album on the new releases within Apple Music, and I was debating on checking it out, so my curiosity got the best of me a couple days back. I ended up listening to Defects, and honestly, it’s a decent little album. I say “little,” but this album is actually 50 minutes long. That’s the first issue this album has — it’s way too long. Albums like this don’t need to be an hour long, unless you can back up that length and make it interesting, but this album doesn’t quite do that. After a couple of listens, this album already started to wear on me, despite still being solid for what it was.
I think that’s the key, though. It’s solid for what it is, so if you enjoy this type of metalcore, you’ll dig this album, but if you don’t, you’ll get nothing out of this. The heavier moments are pretty cool, albeit nothing special, but another big issue that this album has is that it repeats itself quite a bit with its ideas. This album alternates between the hard-rock and metalcore sounds, but it does open up a bit more in the second half, so you get some slower and more atmospheric moments, but it still gets derivative of itself. If this album were a lot shorter, I think I’d really enjoy this, and to an extent, I do like it, but it’s such a slog to get through sometimes. There’s a lot of the same song structures and ideas being repeated here, but if you love this kind of metalcore, I don’t think it’ll bother you.
At 50 minutes, it’s kind of a long album, especially for its sound, but if you like this kind of stuff, I think you’ll have a good time with it. If anything, I can appreciate this as a debut that shows a lot of potential. If they honed their sound, they could easily become one of the heavyweights in the genre, so I’m gonna keep my eyes on these guys, even if this record doesn’t quite become an album of the year contender. Not everything needs to be, as I’ve said before, but it’s good for what it is. I like it, but I don’t quite love it, although that doesn’t mean this is outright bad. It’s worth a listen if you enjoy modern metalcore and this new wave of “Octanecore.”
