THE BEAST

MDPR Clients: A Vicious End - The Hills Will Burn - Reviewed By WOM ! check it out here at this link: https://worldofmetalmag.com/wom-reviews-devilskin-a-vicious-end-jinjer-white-collar-sideshow-palila-10-years-sonic-octane-rainfall-today/

Being surprised is my Achilles' heel. When people talk about music as a style, it is inevitable to make a mental picture. When that mental frame is destroyed by reality, this is the moment when they conquer me. This is what happened with A Vicious End, a project that became a band and that later became a project (with no idea how the future will be) due to all this situation of Covid. What they bring is a very virtuous and dynamic metalcore with a dynamic lead guitar that steals attention. The vocalizations, despite being almost all limited to the shouted guttural, also have a good impact, giving the necessary punch to these songs that make such good use of it. Diversified and very dynamic, I became a fan and I hope it doesn't stop there.

8/10

A Vicious End Is a progressive metalcore band from the Bay Area, California. They are independently produced and are distributed through CD Baby. Founded in 2020, the band wrote and released the album “The Hills Will Burn” within a year of formation. In the face of a global pandemic, the band utilized the online platform “Fiverr” to bring together musicians from around the world for the creation of their debut album.  

The “Hills Will Burn” features Igor Sokolov (St Petersburg, Russia) on vocals, Armando Diaz on Guitar/Bass/Drums, and guest performances by Christina Rotondo (U.K.- featured on “Fields Of Gray”), Daniel Picknell (U.K.- featured on “Without You”), Joylin (Ukraine- featured on “Behold The Archer”), and Carlos Carty (Peru- featured on “Trail of Tears”). The album was mixed and mastered by Filipe Gruber (Venezuela), the artwork was composed by Vhummel (Brazil). 

The album features ominous, down-tuned guitar riffs paired with ferocious vocals centered around the growing social unrest spreading across America.

A Vicious End’s first full-length work starts off with the short instrumental “A New Beginning”, which creates an epic heavy metal atmosphere but is soon interrupted by “At Dawn We Ride”. Noticeably a lot heavier, the second song continues on a more melodic death metal / metalcore note. Next on is the gentler “Fields of Gray” where we can enjoy Christina Rotondo’s beautiful clean vocals, complementing the main vocal line just perfectly. Then we can hear “Smoke and Mirrors” and “Salt The Earth” – two more upbeat and energetic songs followed by “The Black Pearl”. The latter seems to be the heaviest piece so far – the slow and heavy guitar parts even set an almost djent-like mood – certainly a great genre development. The following “Trail of Tears” is probably the most unexpected track on the record, combining the metal and metalcore genres with Carlos Carty’s traditional music elements which showcases Armando’s more experimental side. The next one, “Don't Back Down” sounds more aggressive in its beginning but the hypnotizing clean vocals gradually make it more progressive and melodic. In turn, “Without You” and Dan Picknell’s clean vocals again make for an interesting addition to the album and create a great contrast to everything else we have heard so far which was mostly incredibly heavy - not that anyone is complaining! We also cannot fail to mention the magnificent guitar parts which are present all over the record and are the one consistent element that make it truly memorable and compositionally outstanding. “Let The Waters Consume” and “Insidious” are also great examples of Armando’s guitar excellence. The twelfth and final song “Behold The Archer” ends with a touching and kind of open-ended violin part descending into silence.

We can safely say that “The Hills Will Burn” is an intriguing and promising start to A Vicious End’s musical path!

Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/aviciousend/?hl=en
Website- https://aviciousend.net/home
Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpLo8E-mz_52Xat5kQZ8P-w