Album Review: Aversions Crown - Hell Will Come For Us All

Upon their arrival a decade ago, Aversions Crown were an easy target for critics and cynics such as this scribe who already derided the lack of imagination and actual songwriting within modern death metal.

Time has passed and a series of line-up changes ensued, but the Aussie band has grown as musicians while honing a more ruthless and efficient delivery. Now on album number four, they've also broadened their lyrical outlook from solely focusing on sci-fi themes. The eight-string guitar-wielding metallers' approach remains heavier than a bag of spanners on Jupiter too, punctuated here by crisp, punchy production. New growler, American Tyler Miller brings plenty of intent and vigour to the table, but also a clearer enunciation than many in this field.

That said, they're still evolving. Hell Will Come For Us All can be derivative at times, or predictable for those well-versed in tech-y deathcore. The flourishes of blackened atmospherics add another flavour, although even those can feel a little par for the course as the record progresses. There are highlights, however. Born In The Gutter's as vicious as it is catchy, for one. There's a Suffocation-like menace and intensity apparent in Caught In The System. The title track injects a seismic-shifting beatdown, which is topped by the pit mayhem that Hymn Of Annihilation's titanic breakdown will surely elicit (when we can form pits again).

If you're pining for a new Thy Art Is Murder, Carnifex or Fit For An Autopsy album, you could do far worse in the meantime.