Album Review

Destrophy - Cry HavocDestrophy – Cry Havoc

Alternative metal band Destrophy impressed me with their self titled album back in 2009; the vocals were gritty, the riffs were dirty and each note was playing with distinction and the lyrics we’re very memorable. 2 years on and they have returned with their latest studio effort “Cry Havoc” and I fear that the things that I was impressed with and grew to love may have been cut from production.

Opening track “Cry Havoc” rings out with a promising riff before the vocals kick in and it’s hard to believe that they have the same singer as they had on previous albums because the gritty edge has vanished; they seemed to have toned back on the metal approach and made it a bit softer, seems like a sell out move. The second track “We Are Alive” disappoints me even more for the same reasons as the first track but when I heard a synth fill near the beginning I cringed.

The riff on “Seven Nights” puts the final nail in the coffin for me, there’s absolutely no chance you’d hear that kind of clean riff on the “Destrophy” album the transformation is absolutely heart-wrenching and the vocal change is horrific. Don’t even get me started on the song “Still Bleeding” because that could not be any further from their original style if they tried.

The only way the vocals from the 2 albums link together are in the song from the last album “The Way of Your World” because the vocals on that song sound like the ones displayed on this album except the execution is perfect on that song as its extremely catchy and memorable. The majority of this album is not.

Some songs have moderate hope of being remembered like “Closer” because it’s a thick song with a catchy chorus and the guitar work is a considerable amount heavier than some of the rubbish they’ve thrown on this album. I suppose “It End’s Tonight” is a pretty good song too, same reasons as “Closer” it’s actually a decent heavy song and the vocals aren’t as bad on it.

That really is all I want to say about it to be honest with you; one of the biggest let downs of the year from a band I had hoped for big things but it seems that it’s all gone down the drain now and I need to take interest in other bands.

2/5

Review by James Webb

 Band Members

Michael Mormecha
James Lyttle
Ciaran McGreevy
 Track Listing
1. Cry Havoc
2. We Are Alive
3. Seven Nights
4. All My Life
5. Still Bleeding
6. Closer
7. What Would We Say
8. Misery
9. It Ends Tonight
10. Hello
 Band Related Links
Destrophy Myspace
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?