Deathcore band YEAR OF THE KNIFE formed in Newark, Delaware in 2015. This is the band’s sophomore effort, and it has nine songs. “Sometimes” is first. The song is heavy and low in the register, with harsh vocal screams. The song is barely long enough to even form an opinion, however. “Wish” is a mere minute-and-a-half, and sounds quite similar to the first song, both in pace and scope. “Mourning the Living” is a decent song, but the album is starting to show the band’s inexperience, with an overreliance on open notes and simplistic riffing to go along with the near monotone vocal approach.

“Last Laugh” is under a minute in length. For the first time, we hear a little vocal variation, though again, the song barely lasts long enough to register. “Your Control” is another unimaginative song that seems pretty common on the album, while “Heaven Denied” suffers a similar fate. As is common with a lot of inexperienced bands, YEAR OF THE KNIFE relies too much on their heavy sound to carry the album. “Return of Agony” has some varied pacing, but the song sounds just like the others, and I have finally figured out what the main culprit is in the equation…the vocals. The title track closes the album. Unfortunately, it is more of the same.

As I mentioned above, the band has a few things working against them on the album. First, is the overreliance on heavy, simple riffs, and the second is vocals that are sung (shouted) in nearly the same key in every song. Third and final, is a lack of anything to distinguish the songs from one another. The result is a mediocre album at best.