Look, I’m one of like three metalcore apologists at Angry Metal Guy HQ,1 and I’ve had it up to here. No more sticky noted car, printer wrapped in festive holiday paper, or the squirting flower trick, okay guys? Plus the rubber rat with “BREAKDOWNS” scrawled with Sharpie was going too far. I already get my seven daily lashes from the Most Holy Gorilla when the punishment of metalcore promos seemed insufficient. As we approach the holidays, the last thing I want to do at the office Christmas party is to open my bonus addressed to “sellout.” Don’t even fucking think about it. And Jesus, Tariot sure ain’t helping my reputation. As such, I’m writing this review hunched over the keyboard like a monk in deep meditation to prove to the higher-ups that I’m working on some doom record or blackened prog album. As you may have guessed, Singapore five-piece Tariot is metalcore, featuring frantic fry vocals, noodly guitar fills, and breakdowns. Shit, hi Holdeneye, just working on that latest dissodeath review haha. No, no delays, and no -core influence. Of course all my reviews are always on time! Anyway, Drag Me to Hell is tough-guy metalcore through and through with some touches of post-hardcore, electronic, and nu-metal – like if August Burns Red, Cane Hill, and Our Last Night had a child. Look, I don’t like it any more than you do, would you quit that dry heaving? Go to the bathroom if you need to. Drag Me to Hell is an album with its moments but thanks to its confused structure, weak pieces, and excessive length, I’m comfortable keeping Tariot on the down-low.
Hey Maddog! No, I’m not trying to find the good in metalcore – ’tis foolhardy! Oh hi Doom_et_Al, found a new melodic black metal album to give 4.0? Nice. Anyway, Tariot actually features a few moments of excitement across its forty-two-minute runtime, even if the best feels like a knockoff Crystal Lake. While graced with wild guitar licks throughout, the best tracks balance the typical nimble riffs with densely crushing punishment. “Obsidian,” “Hell Hole,” and the previously released single “The Devil Inside Me” bring bottom-scraping heavy breakdowns to the song climaxes, which balance neatly with the fretboard wizardry and more urgent and aggressive tempos. Former Novelists vocalist Tobias Rische brings a much-needed grounding to “Alas,” while the vocals of Fairuz Ramlan add heat alongside one of the best riffs of the album in “Grave Future.” Used sparingly, nu-metal adds a tasteful intensity that nearly flies off the rails in tracks like “Alas” and “Hell Hole,” recalling acts like recent MouthBreather and early Darke Complex. The second half is the clear winner, with more infectious energy coursing through it. Oh hey Thus Spoke, haha, yeah metalcore sucks haha.2
The problem with Tariot’s Drag Me to Hell is twofold: there are weak songs present and those that are solid sound too much like previously established metalcore fare. Most damningly, the cleans that pervade always waver on the edge of out-of-tune, most painfully present in the aptly titled “Rain On My Parade,” “Eternal War,” and “Life of Nothing” which derail any energy with either post-hardcore- or grunge-influenced mediocrity that teeters into bad territory often. While not entirely detrimental, it leaves a bitter taste in solid tracks like “The Devil Inside Me” or “Lament,” which come unnervingly close to ruin. The nu-metal effect gets too much, especially in tracks like “Metamorph,” whose awkward gang vocals and mismatched climaxes worsen it, and “Hell Hole,” whose rap-influenced closing portions do not fit. Even some less problematic tracks like intro “Death by Seven” and “Eve” pale in comparison to their surrounding highlights (or nadirs) by sheer lack of memorability. However, even Tariot’s best still conjures the spirit of Crystal Lake’s “Prometheus” but missing the necessary charisma.
Ultimately, while the second half of Drag Me to Hell amps the intensity after a painful first half derailed by haphazard cleans and awkward nu-metal influence, but it feels largely like Tariot’s touchdowns in garbage time throughout a deceptively long forty-two-minute runtime; by the time “The Devil Inside Me” hits, the attention span would understandably be run thin. Tariot’s highlights are already mimicry at best with speedy riffs, thuggish breakdowns, and barked vocals, but given a horrendously inconsistent tracklist, it is difficult to recommend Drag Me to Hell for even most metalcore fans. So I guess maybe the sticky noted car was deserved.3
Rating: 1.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 160 kbps mp3
Label: Out of Line Music
Websites: tariot.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/tariotsg
Releases Worldwide: November 24th, 2023
