The History of Metalcore can be traced back to the involvement of American Hardcore bands experimenting the typical Hardcore vocals and riffs with a tinge of influences from Extreme acts. From there the genre developed to spread its wings by making sub-genres of its own. Anything that is influenced by Metalcore is now borderlined as _______core. But to know the exact evolution, here is a small chart:- Melodic Metalcore, evolved from Metallic Hardcore or Traditional Metalcore which evolved from the 90s American Hardcore bands. From this it is clear that there is no such thing called “Persistence” in the field of Metal or Music in general. Over the years, we have seen a lot of newer bands following the same ominous path of their Influential Acts whereas some follow a whole new different path by taking their Influences as Role Models. Unfortunately, it’s the bands that do the latter remain hidden to people.
One such act is “Nice To Eat You”. These talented musicians portray colossal creativity. Originality is an important aspect when it comes to music. Keeping this fact in their minds, these Switzerland based musicians would go on to record their debut album entitled “New Age Of Violation”. The band annotate their rhetorical background as “Symphonic Modern Metalcore” which in fact is true when you take a glimpse of their music. The violin is one among the prolific instruments regarding Classical/Orchestral Music. But it was not until recently that violin has been incorporated in Metalcore. Even though there might have been some artists trying the aforementioned instrumentation, none of them succeeded when it comes to adulteration. Henceforth, there was a time when people believed it would be impossible to amalgam these auras together. But, this perfect equation was carefully formulated by Nice To Eat You. These guys found a way to use Classical Violin notes between the heavy parts of the songs in order to get Melodic Vibes in their sound. Technically speaking, the band incorporates the use of violin between the breakdowns and stanzas. This unholy matrimony of genres can be observed in their debut album, “The New Age Of Violation”.
“The New Age Of Violation” was released in the year 2017 and flaunts 11 melodic yet heavy tracks which center Violin as the Hero. Apart from the tracklist, it’s the album art that a buyer looks upon. Being a buyer myself, this particular album art created an impression in me. If you look beyond the surface, you will understand the fact that the cover tells a story in itself. Keeping the experimentation in mind, the art is designed in such a way that it shouts “Violin”! To emphasize “The New Age”, the band uses a Clock as a personification. That being said, NTEY nailed the aesthetic.
The album starts with a spooky Violin note which gets shadowed when bombarded with the heavy guitar riffage. Declaring to the audience that this is their New Age of Violation, the intro track proves to be a winner. While going through the entire tracklist, one might confront a problem of getting mesmerized by the goodness of this Album. Truth to be told, I spun this record for 3 to 4 days repeatedly (literally). But there are some flaws in the music such as giving the bassist little work plus, at some parts, the Violin overpowers the Guitars which might perplex the conventional music monitors. One such example of the foretold “issue” is Dreamer. While opinions might differ, I really like the fact that NTEY took some real positive sound from Violins. I don’t see an issue with the Violins overpowering the Guitar work, but there are some people who will care more about the Guitars.
Earmarking the Vocals and Instrumentation independently, here is what we have… As far as the Vocals go, Sam screams in a hard hitting and piercing Falsetto but, at the same time, his voice can take softer routes as well. Genuinely choosing the Hardcore vox style without damaging the instrumentation, the Vocals are done neat and tight. Some of the more illustrious vox work on this album can be found on Dreamer, Year Seven and Slave of Mind. Moving on to the Instrumentation, Palm Muted Guitar riffs and Technical drumming are done in such a way that it doesn’t overpower the melodious Violin works in the background. The double bass kicks could have been more intact (not complaining) but they still go well with the rest of the instrumentation.
With each song done near perfectly, it is safe to say that boys over NTEY are surely perfectionists. They took their time. In fact, they put in 3 years to make their debut album near perfect. Closely monitoring each and every track, we can conclude that these guys are here to stamp there foot firmly in the music field. Showing huge dedication among the members, they are not gonna stop making music anytime soon. If the tracklist is filled with Violin, “Crazy” gives the Guitars a bit attention as the song begins with a terrific Guitar Intro. After some craziness, the album ends on a high note with a Masterpiece of a song entitled “Slave Of Mind”. Alas, the album saturates with an Eccentric breakdown leaving the listeners amazed and excited for their next album.
Long story short, New Age of Violation is a Masterpiece considering the fact that this is their debut album. But I expect a bit more Professionalism and Technicality. I believe that the band will gain maturity in near future. No one can expect for a perfect album from a new band. I thought the same when I stumbled across this band. But they really exceeded my expectations. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this album and I look forward to whatever Nice To Eat You puts up next.
– Sooraj Ram
