Frontside - Twilight Of The Gods
Dockyard 1 - DY100340 - 2006
By Philip Whitehouse
Self-styled Polish 'Deathcore Commando' quintet
Frontside present a curious proposition on
Twilight Of The Gods. They somehow manage to combine an absolutely crushing production, some amazingly punishing riffage and a decent blend of
Unearth style European-influenced metalcore and NWOAHM aggressive heft with a near-equal blend of interchangeable and dull riffage, ill-advised and poorly-executed attempts at clean vocal passages, and a 52 minute running time for material that gets pretty uninspiring after about half an hour.
Y'see, for every catchy and lead-heavy riff like the main one in
'Burden Of Hell', there's about one instance in every song of what I think of as
Frontside's 'stock riff' - a pretty typical and dull breakdown/metalcore verse riff. For all the undoubted intensity and suffocating heaviosity, there seems to be a base level of uninspired material with occasional flashes of brilliance. The solo in
'Messiah Syndrome', for instance, lifts the song immediately into the listener's consciousness - before an uninspired riff sinks proceedings again.. The opening riff of
'We Are Destined To Burn' sounds like
Hatebreed at their burliest - before another godawful clean vocal passage torpedoes the track.
There's bucketloads of potential on display here - some of the best riffs on this album rival anything I've heard from similar acts in recent years - there's just too much stylistic confusion and apparent lazy song-writing connecting the good parts on the album, making this a frustratingly incoherent listen. I'm gonna wait to see how these guys develop, but at the moment, I'd only really recommend this if you have everything
Unearth and
All Shall Perish have put out and are desperate for more.
4.5/10
UM's Review Rating Scale
Frontside's Official Website
Dockyard 1 Records' Official Website
