ALBUM REVIEW: Death Of An Artist – X

Bournemouth rockers Death Of An Artist are set to self-release their album X on 4th June. Working their way through the melodic post hard-core genre, an evident honesty is displayed in this ten track album.

Instrumental opener Incipio leads into Blinded which begins with some deafening screams, courtesy of James Leatherbarrow, and eloquently compliments Mark Betteridge’s clean voice, creating dynamic dual vocals that runs through this and every track.

Being part of such a broad genre, Death Of An Artist play around with new sounds, including repetitive drums and hasty riffs, overall they produce tracks with favourable elements to them. Even during the end of Repulsa, where the pace slows down, the layering vocals are left to guide the song to a satisfying end.

These likeable qualities can be heard more predominantly in next track We Are Forgiven; throw in some repetitive heavy build ups and break downs, and it has the essentials to be a killer track. Midway through this debut comes another instrumental, Breather, preparing the listener for their first single Wasted Time. By far the catchiest of the ten songs, with an easy sing-a-long chorus and an upbeat tempo that provokes enthusiasm.

With some guest vocals from Charlie Holmes from Heart In Hand, in DenyAcceptDeny, this stands out as the most heaviest and shortest, but still keeps with the melodic feel of the album, and exercises some thrashing drums and dominant screams.

The fast momentum of this album is consistent, although the last few tracks, Deity and Dreamer, have a much more held back approach but nonetheless are executed with precision. The last song Abuser is a grower, conjuring up a sense of calm before the storm, showing off some rich soothing vocals before the exploding screams begin, and it leaves this album on a high.

X is a strong debut, combining instrumental tracks with catchy rock melodies which make this quintet one to listen out for.