16 Nov 2016

Subscale: "The Last Submission


Depthless heaviness made for the masses
Subscale - Birthed in 2012 - represents just about every cliche and trend from the last 15 years of mainstream heavy metal. With computerised nu-metal-core, each member of the band's plentiful staff proudly lays down their heavy groove-laden offerings.

The Last Submission boasts just about every trick in the book of modern metal. Subscale's music is definitely a product of the digital age, with elements from nu-metal, metalcore, djent, groove metal and more weaving together in a fine and over-produced mesh of sound. The density of the debut full length cannot be questioned, and neither can their disinterest in deviating from the scene.

"Subscale's sound never becomes cluttered,"

Each song of the long-winded album is unfailingly sprinkled with pleasing melodic choruses. Impressively, Subscale's sound never becomes cluttered, even when faced with the full force of a five-member lineup plus a slew of guest performers unloading their youthful vigour all at once. It speaks of the skills of their sound engineer, or - if you're a nay-sayer - the complete redundancy of having so many people involved in a band so hellbent on making basic heaviness the main attraction.

Subscale's album is heavy-handed and grooving, but achieves a groove that is incredibly unimmersive, inoffensive and downright thuggish. The aforementioned melodic choruses carry the band's mainstream appeal, but this is where the pleasantries end. Though the ensemble obviously have great control over the questionable arts of open-stringed chugging riffs, the recipe gets old fast when each groove sounds roughly the same.

With only few variations in their musical flow, distinguishing between tracks becomes exceptionally difficult were it not for the blandly clean vocal melodies strewn about with reckless abandon. Subscale's debut goes for the gold in trying to imitate a bunch of successful bands, but falls short and simply comes off as lacking in character. Despite attempting to keep a high level of energy throughout the album, the amount of energy invested on both the band and the listener's behalf radically decreases as the album crawls towards its end with each completely interchangeable riff.

5/10


Released in 2013 independently

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