Modern day Metalcore, Deathcore, or any subgenre of Metal with the suffix "core" seems to have a bad reputation due to the fact that the music most of these bands create are mediocre at best. These bands tend to focus more on their appearance than the actual music they write causing them to be repetitive, overusing breakdowns and subpar riffs with no variety. The lack of any solos at all should also be noted. Thankfully not all bands in these genres are like this in fact some of my favorite albums are from Deathcore and Metalcore bands. If you haven't guessed it by now the album I am reviewing is a Metal / Deathcore release with Prog elements scattered about the record.

"Departure" is an album that pulls characteristics from Metalcore and Deathcore. The Metalcore influences are easy to pick out, them being the clean, catchy, choruses and some Poppier more upbeat guitar sections. The growls, snarling riffs, and explosive drums are all taken from the Deathcore side of metal. This combination of the two genres is most interesting and reminds me a lot of THE CONTORTIONIST. Now THE CONTORTIONIST has a very spacy feel and lots of clean atmospheric guitar passages and OCELLUS is void of any such traits but the overall experience is similar. The drums on "Departure" are huge and definitely the instrument with the most progressive elements. This drummer was all over the place with his foot work, odd rhythmic changes, interesting fills, and some blast beats you thought you'd only hear on a Death Metal album. Not only was the drummer talented but the way his set sounded complemented him well. The only drawback is that at times it was just a tad quitter than the rest of the music. The guitarists where decent and employed the use of a few solos that made the entire experience more entertaining. Nothing they played blew me away but what they did play they did so very well. Through all the tempo changes and occasional breakdowns the entire band seemed really tight. On my first play through I didn't notice the bass at all but upon playing the record again the bottom line started to sound clearer and stand out more. During parts where the vocalist wasn't present, the bass had some tasty licks and rhythm patterns. The vocalist utilized cleans and uncleans making for some remember able choruses that get stuck in the listeners head. Other than the few pleasant choruses here and there the vocals were pretty a typical for this type of music.

Overall OCELLUS's "Departure" was a better "core" release and it goes to show that good entertaining music can still come from this over saturated genre.