Recently, I had the opportunity to cruise on down to Maryland Death Fest VIII, located in the heart of Baltimore, Maryland. This fest is one of the biggest metal gatherings in the United States and something that both artists and fans look forward to all year long. This year was no exception to the madness; the fest was full of enough sex, drugs, and ROCK to have your local priest, bishop or rabbi curled up in the fetal position, questioning the existence of God. From up and coming bands to metal giants, bands traveled from far and wide, across oceans and deserts, racking up thousands of travel miles just to be able to play a thirty minute set on one of the most famous metal stages in the world. I got the chance to interview some of the bands that have been at it the longest, including Incantation, Nirvana 2002 and Necrophobic. During the course of my interviews I often times asked the musicians what younger bands they were into and what they thought about today’s emerging metal scene. Surprisingly, I got a lot of negative answers! Old heads cited a lack of song writing ability, an over abundance of breakdowns and the masturbatory speed in which bands play to cover up the fact that they can’t write a good tune. I took what they said to heart and started to reevaluate the music I listened to, so when I was handed a copy of The Last Felony’s latest album Too Many Humans, I was sure it was going to be an easy review.

Hailing from the Montreal extreme music scene, which is home to many bands with the same regional sound including Despised Icon, Beneath The Massacre and Ion Dissonance, I was sure that I would be able to lump this release in with the rest, brush it to the side and move on with my life. Bands from this part of the world saw a rise in recognition in the mid 2000’s due to the surge in popularity of deathcore. Bands like Despised Icon are even accredited with being one of the front-runners in helping to bring this mixture of metal and hardcore to the unsuspecting masses. However, like all good things, copycat, cookie cutter, no talent hacks started to churn out crapola and label it deathcore for the instant publicity and lucrative profit that came along with the scene. Fast forward to present day and the negative effects of corporate America have caused deathcore to be the very plague on which modern metal can’t seem to escape. To label yourself as a deathcore band is surely a death sentence waiting to happen. Even the originators of deathcore are having trouble keeping their head above water. Despised Icon has weaned in popularity due to their signature breakdown sound being strewn across a majority of metal songs, while others, like Beneath The Massacre, were unable to turn their technical death metal pickings into a cohesive song…it seems the old heads might have been right.

Enter The Last Felony’s latest release. Upon first listen, I was taken aback by the subtle differences that made this Montreal quintet shine above all the rest. The album is nine tracks of pure brutality that comes out the gate swinging like a roided up boxer or a pissed off bull. The band highlights their ability to play at break neck speeds with uncompromising technicality, while keeping in mind what made death metal so popular in the first place. Guitarists Dom Grimard and Felix Roberge seamlessly switch back and forth from technical picking to old school death metal groove, which is something that is unheard of in the deathcore genre and for good reason. The musicians in this band are talented individuals, more talented thagn a majority of their peers. They recognize that the over use of breakdowns and that chug-chug-chuggity-chug approach is the pitfall of the modern metal scene. With the help of drummer and percussionist, Vince Menard, The Last Felony put a new twist on the breakdown, giving it a more old school groove influenced feel and intern breathing new life into a stale, stagnant genre. Vince Menard is a whiz behind the kit, his blast beats are faster then a speeding bullet, his double kick is more powerful then a locomotive and I am pretty sure the band, if it continues down this path, will certainly be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

Songs such as “We Are Future Housing Developments For Maggots” and “Do Not Defend Me” are the backbone to this album. The songs are well thought out and structured in a way that doesn’t get repetitive or boring and Joss Fredette is a natural behind the mic. He commands respect, and ever present in his vocals is that natural ability to lead and be not only the frontman but the voice for this band. His vocal range stays in the lower register which works for the over all sound while occasionally the audience gets treated to some higher octave vocals that top out in the upper-mid range. I have never really enjoyed the deathcore sound but on Too Many Humans it’s executed fairly well and not once did I ever say “Oh no, not another breakdown!” I think this band has the potential to be great, even monumental in the metal scene. They have the raw talent to be the next big thing and with some time and practice this band could go above and beyond and actually accomplish this goal While Too Many Humans is great it’s not monumentally life changing and that’s why I am giving it the rating I am. I highly recommend you keep a close eye on The Last Felony, I expect big things from this band in the near future. RIYL: Despised Icon, Beneath The Massacre, and even Whitechapel

3.5/5