Kill All The Sexy People - Glory Hole (review)

"Apart from the track tites, and the title of the EP itself... Kill All The Sexy People are quite a serious sounding band"

I was in my younger years when I heard my first real deathcore song (Bludgeoned to Death – Suicide Silence) and since then, I’ve heard many different styles and permutations deathcore. Some shit, some kickass and some… just downright stupid. When it comes to deciding which one (in my opinion) is worse; shit or stupid, I’d probably have to go with stupid because listening to an unintelligent (to say the least) album, for me, is a complete waste of time. I’m the type of person who likes to be doing something productive all the time (well… mostly). When I first read the title for this EP “Glory Hole”, I was like “oh boy here we go, another stupid deathcore band” (hey, you can’t blame me). Even when I first heard the opening guitar riffs, I immediately thought DANGER, SILLY POSER BAND. Then… in came the breakdown. Thank god, thank god that Kill All The Sexy People isn’t one of those time waster bands… thank god.

Automatically after hearing the opening breakdown, I was immediately relived and greeted by some kickass deathcore style guitar riffs and vocals. To say the least, the album title, the band’s name and track titles are very… crude. That being said, the actually music contained in Glory Hole is about as serious as serious can be. You can tell that the band actually put effort into creating some listenable deathcore because you know, it sounds good, which is something I can’t say for many deathcore releases out there.

I can’t help the feeling however, that individual components which make up Kill All The Sexy People’s sound is awfully generic; the vocals range from moderately low growls to moderately high screams, not to mention that they’re monotone as well the breakdowns- heard it all before, the guitar work- sounds catchy and the drumming is nothing spectacular. BUT! The real talent lies within their song writing and song structures, they’re pretty much perfect. I’ve listened to Glory Hole many times, frantically looking for some kind of imperfection in their music in which I can critique upon (the real reason I listened to Glory Hole many times because it’s awesome). There are no off beats, awkward sounding mixes, clumsy song writing or any kind of retardation of the music. The way that Kill All The Sexy People have managed to mix melody, heavy-ass breakdowns and plain and simple deathcore is outstanding in comparison to other bands which try too hard to be that “all-in-1” band.

I don’t know why, but the music doesn’t sound like pure deathcore. For me, it sounds like they have the general metalcore aesthetic mixed in with a deathcore structure. There seems to be a lot of resemblance between bands like Parkway Drive, specifically the Horizons era (of Parkway Drive that is). This gives the music a certain deepness in their music. The guitars have a lower pitch, and the drumming is deep, but snappy at the same time. Not to mention the fact that the vocals have smooth hardcore (but still appropriate for deathcore) texture, there is none of this outrageous “wailing” bullshit going on here (also, a few cleans on the side to lighten up the mood).

What I like about Glory Hole, is that Kill All The Sexy People haven’t tried too hard, to create a new vain of deathcore but they’ve managed to make slight touches and tweaks to their sound, to make it sound slightly different from your daily dose of deathcore. They like to alternate from heavy/droning breakdowns to quick, sharp and groovy style of breakdowns, and both of them have been implemented in their sound quite well. Also, sure the individual guitar riffs aren’t anything spectacular, the different combinations and range of pitch that they use also keeps the music rather interesting and listenable. There are times throughout Glory Hole where it reminds me of the guitar work in Bring me the Horizons Count Your Blessings album, not as technical however. So to me, the sheer variety of sounds which is presented in Glory Hole are enough to keep my interest, but not too much to make it sound like some kind of retarded amalgamation of sounds.

Overall, Glory Hole was a highly enjoyable EP to listen to. The balance of sounds as well as the song writing is seemingly perfect, the music was very interesting to listen to, they’ve obviously haven’t tried too hard to “make something new” and finally, they seem like the type of band which doesn’t take themselves too seriously but aren’t dumb about it. Glory Hole is an impressive EP, with the only things holding it back is the total lack of any connections being made with the listener, and the lack of sheer power behind the music. I would recommend Glory Hole to any deathcore or heavier metalcore fans out there, fans of; Parkway Drive and Bring me the Horizon in particular (and of course others which sound like them). I’d also like to recommend the tracks The Legend Of Grizzlyface and Dressed To Kill for first time listeners. Glory Hole is an awesome EP and I’m looking forward to seeing what they might bring to the table in future releases, 16/20.

16/20