REVIEW: Attack Attack's! "Dark Waves" via Oxide
If you were ever a fan of Columbus, OH classic metalcore act Attack Attack! you probably recall the return of the “pioneers of crabcore” from around 2020. However, if you were a fan of the crabcore scene in its heyday and looking forward to more of it, Long Time, No Sea likely disappointed you. This EP was not crabcore at all, it was formulaic radio metal fit for the modern age backed by barely anyone from the original band. Somehow on Dark Waves the members of this edition of Attack Attack! feel even less in touch with their past and like they’re scrambling, still, to make this band something marketable.
Dark Waves opens with a title track that’s a blend of octane-core as well as the final album from the original run; This Means War, current vocalist Chris Parketny even does his very best Caleb Shomo impression. It's strange to emulate these two styles when it feels like neither is something that a fan of this band would want considering that War is looked at as a record that didn’t quite hold up as well as the other two. To that end though it feels as though the criticism that the last EP was met with was almost taken too seriously as the band emulates the stylings of their self-titled record without any of the electronic charm or notable performances to make the song stand out in their overall catalog. Following up the same energy, the song “KMSTL” or “kill myself to live” also sounds like a self-titled b-side that was cut, not so much for being bad, but just for not being stand out when comparing it to the rest of the tracks from that record. Finally “Paralyzed” is a discount Of Mice & Men track with its screamed verses and easy to remember hook and kind of where I find this iteration to stop being so amusing to me and almost being sad. If fans want to listen to the bands that were made from the broken pieces of Attack Attack! they can, they hardly need a cheap imitation to do so.
I do have one highlight on the record in “Killing for Sport.” This isn’t really a good song, in fact it's just like everything else. I’m more so impressed that a band clinging to 2020s radio metal and selling to those audiences feel comfortable releasing a song about police brutality. Those fans will drop bands on a dime unless they’re totally alt right but then again I haven’t really seen anyone from Attack Attack! reject this stuff publically so it’s probably easy to sell as a simple fun and violent metalcore track.
I think my issue is overall the same as it was two years ago, this band name means something to people, it helped pioneer a sub genre, they revived the title for quick cash. It gets them the tours but this record is even worse than the last one and the people who stuck up for this band that time are starting to lose the faith they had as well. At this point I’m ready for a full length where Attack Attack! will make more attempts to emulate Beartooth, Of Mice & Men and maybe, if we’re lucky, try their hand at copying Bilmuri as well. Is the mission statement now just to attempt to pick up pieces that were already picked up by better musicians at this point in time or will Attack Attack! stop whatever this is and pack it up or become a legacy act that just plays the first two records?
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