To The Grave return with 'Pest Control'

Sydney's To The Grave are back in action for 2019. [PC: Third Eye Visuals]

It seems that Sydney deathcore act, To The Grave, felt that they left things off prematurely, as the band recently became active last week. Coming out of their short-lived retirement - their final show was back in late November, 2016 - with newest single 'Pest Control', To The Grave have something called 'Death Machine' landing in 2019. Fucked if I know what that'll exactly be, but the follow up to 2016's 'No Lives Matter' EP is bound to be grotesquely heavy and dirty.

But hey, what about this new comeback track, 'Pest Control'? Is it any good? Well, let's have a look!

Lyrically, it's about as misanthropic as you'd expect from a modern deathcore act. Basically, the song's message is: we're all seven billion pigs unfit for existence, everyone's gonna die, no one shall be spared, humans are a disease, and some kind of Lovecraftian or extraterrestrial horror needs to cull our species. That's a long-serving and relatively cheesy theme for a band like To The Grave to play into, but it's also violent par for the course when it comes to the genre nowadays. So I can't say I expected much else. Although, I personally yearn for more deathcore bands to speak from the heart and engage with deeper, more emotional themes. (Or just go all in on pure novelty like The Senate or cut song lengths down to keep things succinct, like what Wraith do.) As the songs can benefit hugely from that added personal touch. Plus, there's more than enough bands talking about these same kinds of blood-letting, apocalyptic scenarios, as it is.

As for the track itself, it's basically just more To The Grave - it's the band picking up right where they left off and trying to be even heavier. Ergo, it's filthy, it's slamming, it's brutal, it's just over-the-top deathcore, pretty much. Though, the production is a little muddy, and with so much going on in the track instrumentally and rhythmically, it gets a bit much, losing clarity as a result. 'Pest Control' also drops through you plenty of low-tuned riffs, booming breakdowns, a sweeping legato run, an intensive vocal performance with a few bree-bree's, and even some squishy, limb-dismembering samples too. Most of which is to be expected, really. Again, this is mainly four-and-a-half minutes of unadulterated yet generic deathcore.

If you're squeamish or are looking for far more interesting takes on the genre, please look elsewhere. Of course, if this is more your speed, and you're just stoked to see a local Australian metal act giving it another red hot go, then settle in comfortably below: