THRODL, "No Honor in Exile" Review

Just as quick as it came and made a name for itself, deathcore has become a dying genre and bands who once labeled themselves in such a manner are slowly gravitating towards either death metal or hardcore. Although labeled a deathcore act, THRODL’s latest 13 song album, “No Honor in Exile” leans a little more toward the hardcore side, with more breakdowns than speed within the songs.
Although there are a few blast parts, the CD seems to be saturated in breakdowns. This is coming from someone who likes nothing more than the mixture of blast beats and breakdowns. I wouldn’t be complaining if they had one song with only one breakdown, but you can’t escape the breakdown in this CD which may or may not be a good thing depending on your taste.
While my only complaint with “No Honor in Exile” is the amount of breakdowns, there are many things that as a musician myself I can appreciate about the album. To begin I should mention the time signatures particularly in the song “Gaz’r Delay” where the drummer, Justin Skipper seems to be keeping his own time opposite of the guitars making for a more interesting listen as opposed to hearing the same4/4 timing that many bands stick to just to be safe. I must also compliment Brad Roche on the vocals on this album. He keeps the lyrics with whatever rhythm is going and doesn’t stray from the pattern to confuse listeners. Although a hardcore album, there is no random shouting in between guitar and drum notes, which is something hardcore bands seem to enjoy doing.
All together not a bad album; there is definitely room for improvement but it all depends on what your into. If you like the traditional tough guy hardcore displayed by bands such as Kingdom of Sorrow and Hatebreed, than you’ll enjoy “No Honor in Exile,” if your less into breakdowns and more into quick melodies, you may still like this, however it’s not the selling point of this album. I give it a solid 4/5, the audio quality is amazing, and the guitar parts are technical and fun to listen to, my only complaint being the amount of breakdowns.