Armed with only a demo, Virginia act American released three songs on their Bandcamp from their upcoming split with another Virginia act, Crone. While short, American absolutely demolishes through three tracks, putting together a sound that can only be described as “wholly unique”.
“Tomb Legions” starts with a fuzzy introduction, slamming guitars with sludgy overtones. American then kicks it into gear with blast beats, the vocals raw and intense. Elements of hardcore, sludge, and thrash all come to the surface; the track is full of bleakness and despair. Towards the end, they bring in noise, giving off a depressing atmosphere. “Crown of Thorns” is a pure hardcore track with mixed blast beats and, with the start/stop mentality, American punches through, ripping the listener to shreds. The band breaks away from normal conventions of hardcore, incorporating different sounds into their music. All these genres put together work wonderfully, creating some unique type of monster in the realm of extreme music.
“Carcinoma” is the most diverse track, blending sounds of black metal with post-rock. The airy opening section gives way to more blast beats, culminating in a tough-as-nails breakdown steeped in sludge. The vocals are spacey, disjointed, and raw. The final moments contain an influence of black metal, or what is colloquially called “blackgaze”; all of these exist on this track to give it such an immense sound.
American’s unreleased material spans only thirteen minutes, but it’s in those thirteen minutes that they give a full-scale assault. An assortment of genres spanning all types of hardcore and metal, American is an act surely to watch.
The album is available for download from their Bandcamp.
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