DUSK OF DELUSION

Watch Your 6

I recall reviewing the previous record entitled “(F)unfair” by the hard-hitting French metalcore/melodic metal outfit Dusk of Delusion a couple of years ago and being neither impressed nor blown away by that particular album. Fortunately, this brand new war-themed offering of theirs, “Watch Your 6”, is a more musically cohesive and memorable slab of aggressive metal compared to its predecessor, and there are a number of reasons why that is the case. One of those is that the riffs are better and more muscular this time around, and they pack a pretty damn decent amount of punch throughout the majority of the ten compositions that make up this disc. Strong melodic leads and varied vocals add flavor and diversity to the proceedings, and even though it took me a little while to get used to the vocals due to them being so manic and downright frantic at times, something about them just works for me.

As to quality and maintaining momentum, “Watch Your 6” does suffer from a horrible mid-period slump with the pieces named “Ladies' Path” and “Возле окна” being cliche-ridden and completely derivative, but there are some real gems to be found both at the beginning and towards the end of the disc. “Serbian's Gate” and “The Messenger” serve as a kick-ass introduction to the album and “The Guardians” and “Smiling from Across” are sharp, pummeling affairs too, but the real highlight is the epic and moody “While He Sleeps”, which is a heartfelt and rather intricate composition with many wicked layers and nuances to it.

“Watch Your 6” is neither mindblowingly awesome nor fantastic and there are more captivating alternatives out there if melodic metal of the modern variety or metalcore appeal to you, but nevertheless, this is well worth digging into if the aforementioned genres appeal to you. What Dusk of Delusion bring to the table is atmosphere and heaps of creativity, and as I mentioned before, this is a more accomplished record all around compared to “(F)unfair”. The songwriting has definitely improved and on top of that, there is a really good flow to many of the tracks on “Watch Your 6”. It will be very interesting to see what these skilled dudes will come up with next.

https://duskofdelusion.bandcamp.com/releases

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