I think Iâve talked about it before, but metalcore has evolved into what Iâve seen referred to as âOctanecore.â Thatâs the combination of metalcore and hard-rock, where metalcore bands become more palatable for mainstream audiences by throwing in more hard-rock sounds and ideas, named for Octane Radio, but itâs not all bad. Some of my favorite bands went in that direction, especially Beartooth with their last couple of albums. Their last LP is a metalcore album with some of the best hooks I heard all heard, and it worked awfully well, but thatâs because Caleb Shomo is one of the best songwriters in the scene. Thatâs not true for every band, unfortunately, but there are tons of decent ones in this space.
Enter the band Defects, a British band thatâs been getting a little bit of buzz, especially with their debut album, Modern Error, being finally released. I saw this album on the new releases within Apple Music, and I was debating on checking it out, so my curiosity got the best of me a couple days back. I ended up listening to Defects, and honestly, itâs a decent little album. I say âlittle,â but this album is actually 50 minutes long. Thatâs the first issue this album has â itâs way too long. Albums like this donât need to be an hour long, unless you can back up that length and make it interesting, but this album doesnât quite do that. After a couple of listens, this album already started to wear on me, despite still being solid for what it was.
I think thatâs the key, though. Itâs solid for what it is, so if you enjoy this type of metalcore, youâll dig this album, but if you donât, youâll get nothing out of this. The heavier moments are pretty cool, albeit nothing special, but another big issue that this album has is that it repeats itself quite a bit with its ideas. This album alternates between the hard-rock and metalcore sounds, but it does open up a bit more in the second half, so you get some slower and more atmospheric moments, but it still gets derivative of itself. If this album were a lot shorter, I think Iâd really enjoy this, and to an extent, I do like it, but itâs such a slog to get through sometimes. Thereâs a lot of the same song structures and ideas being repeated here, but if you love this kind of metalcore, I donât think itâll bother you.
At 50 minutes, itâs kind of a long album, especially for its sound, but if you like this kind of stuff, I think youâll have a good time with it. If anything, I can appreciate this as a debut that shows a lot of potential. If they honed their sound, they could easily become one of the heavyweights in the genre, so Iâm gonna keep my eyes on these guys, even if this record doesnât quite become an album of the year contender. Not everything needs to be, as Iâve said before, but itâs good for what it is. I like it, but I donât quite love it, although that doesnât mean this is outright bad. Itâs worth a listen if you enjoy modern metalcore and this new wave of âOctanecore.â
