Swiss metalcore quartet Roots of Death hereby present the world with their first proper album, after years of honing their skill in the local joints of their alpine country since their formation in 1999, and garnering enough support from their fans and enough pure adrenaline charisma to blast their way to events like the Wacken Battle of the Bands. Dirty Mankind Collapse follows in the tradition of the slightly more thrash-oriented metalcore of bands like Unearth, early Heaven Shall Burn, but most noticeably of their fellow countrymen Cataract. Hard hitting riffs and brutal (there’s really no other word for it) pounding percussions somehow manage to squeeze in enough hooks to give the songs familiarity- that is, if you’re already versed in the genre to a certain extent.

Guitar-wise, the riffs are among the best I’ve heard in metalcore recently, giving more credence to my personal theory that European bands are better at playing the genre than their American counterparts, who too often run the risk of becoming locked into the simplistic and repetitive tastes of their fashion-drenched audiences. The riffing here is constant, always doing something, always hammering the listener’s ear with chugging, drilling or speeding sequences. They gain further favour by not forgetting about solos, interspersing the rhythmic drills with virtuosic fills to get that slight interruption and gain more attention, as well as showing off prodigious technical as well as melodic ability in the hands of guitarists Boris and Peolo. They know their metal well, drawing on slight influences from thrash to give the pieces a more aggressive feel than the usual metalcore might have, and there is a distinct trace of modern In Flames in some of the guitar harmonies, adding a subtle, yet highly melodic, characteristic to the pieces. Drummer Serafino, also of Dreamshade (who come from the same city as Roots of Death and have recently signed a contract with Spinefarm), performs flawlessly, keeping the tempo up and the testosterone levels high, balancing rolls and fills with a metronomic precision on the pedals. The third high point is singer Kevin’s ability to use the traditional metalcore gimmick of alternating between growls and clean choruses without sounding too obvious (for lack of a better term) about it. The vocal melodies are used sparingly, yet they always maintain a comfortable level of violence in them. He reminds me somewhat of Eddie Vedder, although this might be because of the cover of Pearl Jam’s Spin The Black Circle featured on the album is absolutely kickass. Nevertheless, he manages to make the songs catchy without resorting to explicit popishness, as other bands in the metalcore scene are guilty of doing.

Roots of Death are relatively new to the international metal scene, yet with a product like this for their debut they are bound to go far and deep. Unfortunately, the genre in question might not be at the helm of popularity at the moment, yet I retain enough faith in the overall metal community to be able to predict a strong future for them. Despite the fact that this album is excellent, it is apparent that they can do so much more, given time to grow and hone their songwriting skills even further. For now, appreciate the vitality of a band that loves its craft.