On June 18, 2020, THE ALPHA STRUCTURE released their debut album "7 Deadly Sins." THE ALPHA STRUCTURE is a deathcore band from Oregon. They describe their sound accurately as "ambient, djent-inspired deathcore." The typical deathcore elements of breakdowns, dirty vocals, and heavy riffs are all here. The growling vocals sometimes break into a cleaner yell, adding to the emotion of every track. The drumming doesn't just meld into a wall of blast beats, instead accenting the atypical rhythms of the music, which I appreciate more because it adds interest. The "djent-inspired" riffs are mostly straight djent. The constant palm-muted riffs are decidedly not melodic, instead creating an aggressive and dissonant sound.

"Empty Vessel" is a short intro track that gets in your face quickly. The djent influence is heard immediately in the palm-muted, dissonant guitar riffs. Next is the titular "7 Deadly Sins." The jarring, dissonant sound continues, but with a more apparent ambient section. The eerie background is overlaid with arrhythmic drumming and more djent riffs, resulting in a unique and discomforting track. That same eerie ambient background is continued through to "The Red," this time including a bit of ethereal female backing vocals while Dean does his thing. The breakdown is great, kicking back in with a seriously jarring scraping riff.

Most tracks proceed in this way. The beginning riffs of every track are great at grabbing your attention with the sheer aggressiveness. "Memories Left Unturned," in particular, kicks off with riffs reminiscent of modern technical death metal. The next track "Grudges" stood out with its incredible energy, especially the shouted "Move" (I think) right before the breakdown. In a live setting, this would definitely cause the floor to erupt into a mosh pit. I miss that more than anything right now!

I'm not particularly knowledgeable about this genre, but fans of bands like MESHUGGAH and VILDHJARTA would like this album. While the atmospheric ambient background was a good addition to their deathcore sound, I thought the riffs needed a bit more variety than just a djent palm-muted riff. There were a few moments of technical or slightly melodic riffs, but overall, nothing that stood out. That is the one major complaint, as all other elements were played well. Overall, I recommend this album from THE ALPHA STRUCTURE as a solid debut.