Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Within Destruction - Deathwish (2018)

For this small marathon of deathcore releases to listen to and review, I saved the most brutal one for last. I don't know anyone who has confused this band with Within Temptation because of that name, but it's good that no one has, because they're complete polar opposites. There's no female-vocal symphonic metal here, only brutal slam-infused deathcore. Actually a full-on combination of Within Destruction and Within Temptation's styles would be something in the age of symphonic deathcore. Anyway...

Back then, Within Destruction wasn't the anime-influenced nu metal/deathcore (animetal) band that they would eventually be. In Deathwish, they were really digging deep into the depths of Hell to unleash deadly brutality. And this was around the time Mental Cruelty was doing that as well before their symphonic blackened deathcore direction.

The intro track "External Interference" is just an audio sample where some guy mentions alien invasions that he supposedly found. Interesting setup but skippable. The title track crashes in with guest vocals by Duncan Bentley (Xavleg, Vuvlodynia). And no matter the brutality, the production sounds clearer than other underground extreme metal albums. "False Revelation" follows more typical leads and rhythms in the deathcore genre. Same with "Extinction", but they're all still great.

Occasional leads help balance out the monstrous grooves in "Torture Ritual". The more feral vocals in "Human Defect" are so beastly, in part due to the guest appearance by Infant Annihilator's Dickie Allen. "Downfall of Humanity" exemplifies their sound the best, including an apocalyptic breakdown midway throuh.

That breakdown is nothing compared to that of "Darkness Swallows Life". That and the drums there would f***ing peel you down layer by layer then stitch you back up. "Self Hatred" is more straight with catchy yet heavy riffs, leads, and atmosphere. The soloing is also quite interesting. "Death Awaits Us All" is the 5-minute epic with some great variation. As far as their later sound would go, that one's pretty close. The outro "HMR45" ends the album with a more robotic audio sample.

Deathwish is one of the most extreme deathcore albums I've heard to have clear production. Although I'm quite used to the more muddy albums out there, here things are so polished that it's like I'm in the studio witnessing them record. And it's quite well-written too! Though will it make me a new fan of the band? I'll go with possibly....

Favorites: "Deathwish", "Human Defect", "Downfall of Humanity", "Darkness Swallows Life", "Death Awaits Us All"