Genre : Hardcore, Deathcore, Nu-metalcore
Released : January 13th, 2023
Label : Out Of Line Music
FFO : Darko (US), Landmvrks,
The Dali Thundering Concept, Humanity's Last Breath
I'd been hearing the name Ten56. pop up quite a bit here and there in recent times, mainly through other well established "core" bands from both Europe and across the pond praising these dudes.
That along with the idea of having a sort of deathcore/metalcore supergroup fronted by members (or ex-members) of essential bands from the French modern "core" scene (Novelists, Kadinja, Betraying The Martyrs, Uneven Structure...) only made it a matter of time until I turned my attention to this project, and let's just say I'm super glad I did.
In fairness, I wasn't quite sure what to expect going into this, especially since I've never really been able to "click" with Betraying The Martyrs but anytime I heard Aaron Matts feature on stuff outside of BTM I was always pleasantly surprised.
As it turns out, Ten56. is a completely different story altogether so my hesitations were totally misplaced.
On "Downer Part.2", the band mercilessly pummel the listener with a mix of downtuned, massive-sounding chuggy riffs and screeching pitch-shifting manipulation à la Humanity's Last Breath, beatdown hardcore breakdowns and two-step sections with a hefty dose of modern electronics thrown in which also makes space for some dark trap and even grime influences (most notably on the tracks "RLS").
It sounds cliché and overused as hell to say this by now, but man is this shit heavy.
You can genuinely feel the venomous spite in Aaron Matts's vocal delivery which is elevated by guitarists Quentin Godet and Luka Garotin's guitarwork and hits like a wall of bricks (actually make that a whole freight train once Nicolas Delestrade's bass is involved) or an arsenal of spinning buzzsaws all guided by the non-flashy yet firm and steady drumming of Arnaud Verrier.
I know it's literally just the start of the year but I'm certain that "Downer Part.2" will be amongst my favourite EP's this year and the track "Saiko" in particular is part of the best heavy songs I've heard so far.
I'm so glad I managed to catch these guys live earlier in January for my first gig of 2023; energy was crazy and super fun and they sounded just as clean and vicious as they do on record.
Catch a show if you get the chance and do give this EP a listen if feeling as though you're getting knocked out as soon as you put your headphones on is your kind of thing.