It’s all led here. Every choice you’ve made, every circumstance that swirled around you – it’s come to this moment. Think about how you’ve instilled your life with meaning, that everything you’ve done has been in the name of finding it, for isn’t that the meaning of life itself? Your purpose, your hope, your everything. Everything you’ve done has not been for nothing. You’ve fought like hell, and would not fucking die, and surmounted every obstacle, refusing to let it cripple you. It’s all led you here, to this moment. As you take a second to marvel at your successes and stumbles, remember that life is worth living and every bit of hardship has molded you into the person you are. I don’t know you, but I know you’re doing great things as you travel the road of life – you’ve made wrong turns but you’re getting back to the interstate and that takes time. I don’t know you, but I bet a blackened Brokencyde wasn’t exactly something you expected to be in the headlights.
For the blissfully uninformed, Brokencyde was an absolute trainwreck of a trio, fusing hip-hop, trap, screamo, post-hardcore, and the dumbest lyrics to grace mankind into one pulsing clusterfuck of stupidity.1 Let me introduce you to Eggvn, self-professed “Satanic Death Industrial Metal.” Sporting some obvious black metal influence, I was expecting an ominous ambient album among the ranks of Moëvöt or Velvet Cacoon, but the Mexicans’ sophomore full-length La Era de la Bestia is more akin to a bizarre combination of Psyclon Nine, Brokencyde, Angelspit, and Nine Inch Nails. Featuring pulsing beats, cold industrial flourishes, dark ambiance, and harsh barks, it has its moments of listenable plagiarism, but is comically marred by a club-footed collision of its influences.
It’s a little sad to say that Eggvn’s best is when they sound like Psyclon Nine. Tracks like “Hope,” “Flesh,” and “Futile” utilize the industrial edge and blackened feel well, allowing it to guide its movement between pounding percussion, electronic walls of sound, dark atmosphere, and scorching vocals. These tracks are written well, that while they are far from original, they are subtle enough to stand apart from their “rave from Hell” mentality, evoking a foreboding or melancholic darkness. Black metal influences rear their heads in electronic format elsewhere, which can provide a nice change of pace from otherwise embarrassing tracks: the slowing drop of “Ave Satanas” feels like a doom riff, the beat of “Cross” does weirdly feel like a rawer punky rhythm akin to Ildjarn, and the electronic blasts of “N.B.O.” feel like a Darkthrone tremolo.
For the vast majority of La Era de la Bestia, however, the “rave from Hell” aesthetic is not representative of its atmosphere but rather its quality. Last year, Mora Prokaza similarly offered a bizarre fusion of trap and black metal, and it never forsook its blackened core. Eggvn, however, awkwardly splices EDM beats with industrial touches and blackened vocals, virtually eliminating the kvlt quality of its music. Tracks like “Legion,” “No Memories,” and “Agnus Dei” are cringeworthy fusions of shoddy Angelspit beats and melodic synths straight outta Garageband, industrial washes reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails’ “The Hand That Feeds,” and monotonous blackened barks. To add insult to injury, the best tracks are straight-up Psyclon Nine rip-offs, ruining what would have been highlights. Finally, to add insult to insult to injury, La Era de la Bestia is far too long for its own good, clocking in at a ridiculous fifty-four minutes. This translates into excessive song-lengths, as “Legion,” “No Memories,” “Ave Satanas,” and “Soul Reaper” are nauseatingly repetitive, utilizing the same beats and screaming the same phrases until they’re drilled into your head.
La Era de la Bestia, for its moments of interest, is a clusterfuck of toothless “ugh.” Eggvn offers all novelty with no substance – you could tune into any one of these tracks, nod your head for a second, and that would be enough. While “Hope” and “Flesh” offer interest, they are nonetheless damned by their status as a Great Value Psyclon Nine. La Era tries to splice, not combine, black metal and industrial, dulling kvlt fury while shallowing its electronic influences, doing so for way too long. I furthermore cannot shake the feeling of having committed nearly an hour to a blackened Brokencyde with every spin- an experience both humbling and frustrating. I don’t know you, reader, but I know you’ll do great things – I have every confidence. I know Eggvn well, and great passable tolerable things remain out of reach.
Rating: 1.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Out of Line Music
Websites: facebook.com/eggvnofficial | eggunofficial.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: May 14th, 2021
