In 2013, melodic death metal is as musically relevant as barbershop. The genre peaked when At The Gates dropped Slaughter of the Soul, but that was almost twenty years ago. Since then, bands like In Flames and Dark Tranquility have contributed some classic albums to the melodeath canon, but there haven't been any really good examples of the sub-genre in a very long time.
These days, bands that wave the melodic death flag are mostly formulaic clones that don't bring anything new or interesting to the table. Italy's Eyeconoclast attempt to break through the mediocrity by adding some light technicality to the mix and focusing the lyrical content on pulpy sci-fi fare about a robot uprising or something. But, despite the best efforts of the band, Drones of the Awakening just isn't that good.
The core problem is that there's nothing memorable about this album. There's some impressive drumming throughout, but the guitar work is by-the-books melodic death metal masked behind some odd time signatures and stop/start dynamics. Even the song titles are derivative. Tracks like "Rise of the Orgamechanism", "Hallucinating In Genetic Disarray", and "Obsolesced" sound like brutal death metal songs that have been run through some sort of Fear Factory track title and lyric filter.
Eyeconoclast aren't bad per se, but they don't stand out at all. There are bands that balance technicality with brutality and melody better. There are bands that write material that is more hooky. And there are bands that write more compelling lyrics. Why listen to this when Dark Tranquility's The Gallery or Samael's Eternal are readily available?
It's tempting to relentlessly harp on Drones of the Awakening for being so middle-of-the-road because mediocre art is so aggravating. But there are certainly people out there whom this will appeal to. To some burgeoning metalhead who's still obsessed with Lamb of God and Slayer, this album could be the doorway to better, more interesting music. So, although most jaded metalheads aren't going to get much out of this album, there's still a purpose it could serve. Below is the lyric video for "Rise of the Orgamechanism". Give it a listen if you're even remotely curious. Taste is subjective after all.
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