I Declare War – “We Are Violent People By Nature” [Album Review]

While some people declare celibacy and others, like Joel Osteen, sell their soul, I mean a shit ton of copies of a book with a title with which I am making a joke but am just realizing that most people who are reading this review probably don’t get that reference, I Declare War declares “We Are Violent People By Nature.” For the most part, they’re right.

I Declare War, if you are not aware, is a deathcore band from Seattle, Washington. So, the rest of this review will measure their album We Are Violent People By Nature relative to other bands of this genre. This is a hint to those who are not deathcore fans to take a hike and go suck a huge… lollipop… shaped like a dick.

The key ingredient to a deathcore band that will typically set them leagues ahead of others is a technically proficient drummer. Hands down the most awe-inspiring element of this album is Colin Bradford’s ability to push the envelope on speed. Breakdowns are breakdowns, but 32nd note machine gun blast rhythms are a whole new level of brutal. “A Dark Hole To Crawl Into” starts out with an adrenaline autoinjector to the chest, and if Colin got a dollar for every kick drum hit, by the end of this song, he’d be ballin’ like Jamie Dimon. More accurately, he might actually need $1000 a kick hit to get to Jamie’s level ’cause Jamie is a bauce.

Speaking of Jamies, Jamie Hanks’ vocals are enormous in that the screams sound like a pissed off dragon. Would I personally enjoy some more variance? Sure. Would everyone else that digs deathcore? I’m not sure. I feel like the debate rages on for what place clean vocals and/or vocals of the yelly variety have in this genre. The guitar riffs are fairly straight forward death metal, while I was surprised that the influence of djent that’s made its way into a lot of metal isn’t recognizable on this album. This should be good news to the purists. There’s also a fair amount of tremolo picking for those who are into that sort of thing. I can dig, as long as it’s harmonized, which it is.

Long story short, izzzzz niiiiice!

Track Listing:

01. Quiet
02. Tomb Sleep
03. Blurred Vision
04. Black Heart
05. Noose
06. Shadow Man
07. A Dark Hole To Crawl Into
08. The Bad Man
09. Eternal I Sleep
10. We Are Violent People By Nature

Run Time: 31:35
Release Date: April 15, 2014

Check out the song “Quiet”