Reviews list for As Blood Runs Black - Allegiance (2006)

If you look in my Spotify playlists, you’ll find one titled “Workouts”. Fittingly I use this for my kettlebell and free weight exercise sessions, and I would say approx. 80% of the content is deathcore or metalcore. This is something of a revelation for someone who up until around three years ago had heard virtually zero of such music, in fact I had intentionally looked to avoid it for most of the two sub-genre’s existence. Whilst this by no means makes me an expert on such styles of metal, I figure that I am at a reasonable enough level of maturity with this music to pass the occasional comment on The Revolution clan feature release.

As Blood Runs Back have a sound that I instantly find jarring as they deploy that djenty style of riffing that reverberates throughout the track and then there’s the big bloopy and mathy leads that run riot over proceedings. ‘Hesper Prynne’ has the makings of great Meshuggah worship but blows it by just piling more things on top of one another. This track is then followed by instrumental track ‘Pouring Reign’ which just feels like pointless musings really. By this point I am missing some of the big, rhythmic riffs that I use to fuel my workouts. What constitutes as breakdowns here (and I genuinely like a good breakdown) feels just more like a fake slowing of the pace where something else happens. There are moments like on ‘The Brighter Side of Suffering’ when the album sounds a little more on point than on other occasions, but this is still a bit too tame for me.

For me, As Blood Runs Black lack cohesion, bobbing around a little too much on the waves of their own farts in the bath water. I am aware as I type this that I am commenting on a scene that I do not entirely understand and so I am trying not to sound disingenuous to what I am listening to. To put it in grown up terms, the record is too melodic and lacks consistent punch. Tracks such as ‘Beneath the Surface’ start off with such promise but soon end up sounding more or less like every other track on the record and after a while (a short while), this just grates on me.

There has been some talk about As Blood Runs Black's debut Allegiance being similar to The Black Dahlia Murder. I haven't listened to a lot of that band, but based on the few songs I've heard from TBDM, I can totally understand. Allegiance I would consider more of a blend of deathcore and melodeath. And everything is in perfect place, including the breakdowns! This is also back when melodic deathcore was more deathly and less blackened/symphonic than their younger peers.

Allegiance has the fast guitarwork, melodic soloing, and brutal breakdowns to expect in any metalcore/deathcore album. Vocals range from blackened to deathly. Lots of blast beats are used in the drumming. And the songs are all under 5 minutes in length, so don't expect any progressive epics.

The "Intro" is quite kick-A, though quite short at under a minute. It segues to "In Dying Days", a classic of melodic awesomeness in deathcore, giving me a reason to enjoy that subgenre. BRING THE MOTHERF***IN' RUCKUS! Speedy bass and drums occur in "My Fears Have Become Phobias", with some of the fastest kicks in the second half. The breakdowns actually have audible bass which isn't quite common here. Melodeath-fueled riffing covers "Hester Prynne" alongside more of those diverse harsh vocals.

The acoustic interlude "Pouring Reign" is beautiful, but I don't think it fits well in this album which would've been 100% perfect but ends up getting a couple percentage points knocked off for that. "The Brighter Side of Suffering" is another one of the best songs in melodic deathcore. The next track "The Beautiful Mistake" is another solid track. Sure the lyrics of a failed romance may be cheesy, but it somehow fits well in deathcore/melodeath, right from the intro, "I looked into the eyes of a broken heart pride that’s made of stone!" Amusing but still suitable.

"Strife (Chug Chug)" has fantastic drumming, and once again, the otherwise inaudible bass can be heard in the ending breakdown. "Beneath the Surface" is quite interesting. Right at the 3 and a half minute mark, the song comes to a quick stop, and just when you think it's over, a brutal breakdown comes on for you to headbang to. Finally, "Legends Never Die" is one last highlight I would recommend to fans of Black Dahlia-core.

Allegiance is the best place for anyone wanting to test out deathcore for the first time without going into the popular new wave of symphonic blackened deathcore. I just hope As Blood Runs Black would return with another masterpiece like this without any acoustic interludes. We need more straight-up melodic deathcore, seriously!

Favorites: "In Dying Days", "My Fears Have Become Phobias", "The Brighter Side of Suffering", "Strife (Chug Chug)", "Legends Never Die"