For his latest attempt to break out of the heavy metal second division, former
Broken Hope and
SOiL guitarist Shaun Glass assembled a brand new group named
Dirge Within, committed to exploring an aggressive but relatively accessible style of modern metal via their freshman outing, 2009's
Force Fed Lies. And with so much attention focused on the overrated deathcore movement around this time,
Dirge Within may have stumbled upon a clever strategy for distinction, thanks to the simpler, more direct songwriting approach favored by typical tunes here like "Forever the Martyr," "Inhuman," and the title cut. Even when the band dives into full thrashing velocity and death metal-style double kick drums (see "Spit," "Last Goodbye," etc.), resort to melodic metalcore à la
Killswitch Engage (during more infectious numbers like "Confession" and "New Disease"), or even succumb to a few lingering nu-metal gimmicks ("Self Medicate," "Complacency"), they rarely lose sight of each song's well-rounded best interests. And between the commendably intelligible (plus occasional clean vocals) growls of frontman Jerms and the melodically astute yet technically jaw-dropping guitar work delivered by Glass and his fellow axeman, Matt Szlachta, there's no shortage of sparks here to enlighten listeners exhausted by deathcore's often needless intricacy. In its totality, the end result on
Force Fed Lies feels like a surprisingly workable mutation of
Pantera,
Fear Factory,
Killswitch Engage, and yes, latter-day
Slipknot, all of which should be enough to place
Dirge Within's name in reach of the highest echelon of contemporary American metal in the late 2000s -- even if it lacks the pure commercial cleanliness to sell them millions of albums. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia