WRETCHED

I realize… Ah hell, I support the fact that metal, and death metal in particular, isn't all about reinventing the wheel or always taking the path least traveled. Provided that the music is well written and conveys a certain indefinable sense of aggression, morbidity, and whatever the chosen emotion may be, then mind boggling creativity isn't a requirement. But I'll be damned if much of modern death and deathcore — the distinctions are becoming blurrier — is sounding way too interchangeable, prepackaged, and safe, even when the songwriting might be acceptable. Where's the soul? Was it sucked out by a new version of Pro Tools that digitizes, and then decimates any semblance of humanity in the delivery? It is a question I kept asking myself each time I listened to WRETCHED's "The Exodus of Autonomy" using an array of mediums; car stereo, boom box, home stereo, and MP3 player.

The main issue with WRETCHED's "The Exodus of Autonomy" is only partially of the band's own making; a few years ago this album would have sounded a good deal fresher, although minds would not have been blown from the compositional dynamics and nervous system's wouldn't have shut down from the trauma caused by the reverberations. Everything on the album is tightly packaged and professionally recorded, yet digitized to the point of sterility and robbed of its death metal soul.

Put another way, there is no issue here with the ferocity forced out through the speakers or the sheer weight of the blows delivered, as "The Exodus of Autonomy" accomplishes both in a form convincing enough to keep the pit crews all riled up and foaming at the mouth. The songs are competently written. However, that now standard blend of THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER and THROUGH THE EYES OF THE DEAD, bridged with something along the lines of a CARNIFEX, may take skill to play and warrant some degree of appreciation based on compositional value, but none of that means jack squat if it sounds recycled and overdone. "The Exodus of Autonomy" sounds recycled and overdone. It is not even a question of it being a bad album, as there is plenty of foundation shaking and face breaking going on here, and in most cases none of it would cause frowns of disapproval or send folks running for the exits to escape it. It is just an album that exists without much distinction and is destined to get lost in the shuffle.