Dystopia A. D. "Rise of the Merciless" <REVIEW>

August 7, 2020 Tom McKay

“…brought forth an electric melodic death metal album that toed the line of straight melodeath and progressive death…”

Nothing could possibly be more empowering than photoshopping yourself onto a demonic deity in your spare time… I have a life, I swear! Dystopia A. D. is a two-piece melodic death metal band from New Jersey. Forging their existence in 2018 with the release of Designing Ruin, multi-instrumentalist Chris Whitby (Black Negative Domination, Hellbore) got very lonely and needed a friend to make fun and heavy music with, and in 2019 brought on Aki Shishido (ex-Ash & Elm, ex-Teratoma) for lead guitar duties… and nothing else. So Chris is still doing most of the work it seems. Good on ya bud, usually people try to LESSEN the work load entirely, but I suppose going from doing everything to doing… everything… is a bit of a change. With the duo line-up solidified, they got to work and came up with their sophomore album Rise of the Merciless. Released last Friday (July 31), this EP is set to feature some unexpected sections and additions you wouldn’t expect in a regular death metal EP.

Talking about the EP, Chris Whitby says: “There are some ambitious elements that you probably don’t expect to hear on a death metal album, but everything works well together and sounds cohesive.” Some of the elements in question include saxophones (off to a great start), acoustic guitars and choirs along side the regular death metal shenanigans. Chris continues: “Each song is an adventure for the listener as we explore the themes of the occult, suffering and insanity.” But all those extra spices don’t mean much if the main course tastes like a hermit’s foot, so how does Rise of the Merciless actually hold itself up? Is it cohesive? Does it still slam harder than a sumo wrestler on PCP? Well, let’s not waste much more time, let’s get straight into it…

“Red Sand” starts the EP off with the low hum of winds blowing across what I can only assume are the deserts of Arabia (based on some subjects of war (brought on by Aki performing some parts while stationed in Afghanistan with the U.S. Military)) as the previously mentioned acoustic guitars make themselves known playing a very exotic and dissonant opening riff, slowly building it’s dissonance with the motif to be passed off to the main metal instrumentation that kicks things into high gear. Aki’s lead work from the very start is worth paying attention to for any melodeth fans as the man knows how to write a great melody that sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the song. But of course, that’s not all Dystopia A. D. is, otherwise this wouldn’t be much to talk about for melodic death metal. It’s dissonant and exotic, but where’s the intensity? Where’s the thrashing? The headbanging? Questions that get answered when Chris Whitby enters the chat and brings it all in with his riffing, drum work and Opeth-esque growls and screams. I’m not kidding, they’re so similar to Mikael Åkerfeldt that Opeth fans have requested Chris’ location immediately. And now that everything has been set up, we now find ourselves being thrusted into “Nomad“, continuing the sonic themes from the opener. Choirs fill the background void, giving the sound a suspenseful and menacing tone. This is the song where “epic” can be used to describe the sound of this band. Once again, Chris’ vocal work and guitar work is what takes centre stage, and frankly I have no reservations about that at all. We’re only 2 tracks in and I can tell it’s going to be the start of a beautiful friendship with this EP.

Going into “Plaguebringers”, is when we get to experience a new influence being brought in, and the melodeath part of their identity becomes clear. Someone say The Black Dahlia Murder? I can’t speak for everybody, but listening to the opening riff reminds me so much of that “early death metal fused with dark melodies” style that Black Dahlia has made something of their own. Normally this is the part where I’d complain about “them damn kids trying to stick their dicks in old turf”, but Dystopia A. D. adds a different take to it that’s uniquely their own. For example, while the Black Dahlia influence is apparent throughout the rest of the song, about halfway through we get the first taste of Chris’ clean singing. Up until this point, I’ve been making the Mikael Åkerfeldt comparison, but his cleans are very much not of that vein. I’m not sure who to compare it to as any example has immediately escaped the sarcophagus of my brain the second I went looking for them, but this is our first instance on this EP of a real shift in musical thinking. Easily amplified when the “jazz/saxophone” section shows up… no, I’m serious. Like I said, this gets interesting fast.

The title track starts up like a revving bike engine… for some reason, and then once the rest of the song kicks in, we get back to melodeath basics. Aside from some interesting colour choices on guitar effects, and the fact that Chris is trying out for Blind Guardian with his cleans (despite the spot not being vacant), there isn’t a whole lot to report on this song, but it’s worth getting to. It’s possibly one of the more energetic and catchy songs on the album, and (despite being slightly different) fits right in with the rest… Oh, and the acoustic guitar comes in, solidifying the Opeth comparison. If either of these two say Blackwater Park wasn’t an immediate influence, I’m calling bullshit. “Sisyphean Existence”, on top of being a song title that I’m happy to not be filming my horrible pronunciation of, continues with the melodic death metal sound we’ve become accustomed to, and once again, there’s nothing to report here. It does get slightly more experimental closer to the end of the song, but nothing completely off the wall. Now, we close Rise of the Merciless out with a “Grave Pact”, both the song and the possible deal these guys made at some point before this band came into existence. It’s a good song, the guitar work is still fantastic, and everything else in between is still as explosive as before. While I don’t think it’s the best closer the album could’ve ended on, it’s still a great way for this album to close out.

Going through the album a few more times after that initial listen, there was a lot I liked. First off, compositionally, this is probably one of the most diverse melodic death metal albums I’ve heard in a while. Most bands within the death side of the metal world tend to stray away from doing anything outside the box for reasons I’ll never understand, but there are points in this EP that stand out the most. Peppered in the straight death metal bombastness is some genuine attempts to shake things up, and most of the time they work. The jazzing sax jam in “Plaguebringers”, while didn’t feel like it transitioned naturally, was still a neat little section to break up the monotony. And some of the “totally not Opeth sections” brought forward some love and respect for a band that is one of my all time favourites, so it’s winning bonus personal points in my book. As the album goes on, one thing that becomes clear is the use of programmed drums. It didn’t take away from the experience for me, and I fully understand the problem with budget when it comes to renting a studio and/or session drummer for anything, but it is something I know some people are going to point out and get pissy about… especially seeing as the drums aren’t exactly exploding my speakers. If anything, the drums for the most part kind of felt flat in places, specifically with the snare for me personally. Again, not a huge take away, but it is kind of a bummer, can you imagine this EP with thick, explosive drums?… Holy shit, I just came thinking about it.

Not everything can be perfect though, and besides I shouldn’t be one to talk when it comes to programmed drum production (*cough* music on all streaming platforms *cough*). Overall though, Dystopia A. D. brought forth an electric melodic death metal album that toed the line of straight melodeath and progressive death. Chris and Aki are bringing their best foot forward when it comes to composition, and the effort shows. While I would’ve wished for a better drum sound, you can’t deny that compositionally the album does what it’s meant to, and then some. I can’t say what the future holds for Dystopia A.D., but after this Rise, let’s just hope there isn’t a fall.