SONG REVIEW: Destroy//Create - ”DEAD AND GONE (Automne)”
Destroy//Create bring an atmospheric approach to metalcore in the massie sounding “Dead and Gone (Automne)”
Written by JD Walker
What’s more metal than the apocalypse? Stories of the world’s end, whether it be from nuclear war, an unknown virus, or an outbreak of zombies, have long been a staple in the cinematic side of metalcore. In “Dead and Gone (Automne)”, the newest single from Destroy//Create, the group outline the horrors of an impending apocalypse through ripping breakdowns, flashy riffs, and driving blastbeats.
The sign opens with a suite of orchestral ambiance before dropping into an almost melodic death metal-esque opening section filled with speedy guitar riffs and assaulting blastbeats. The verse kicks in with the character of an August Burns Red-inspired fever as the tight riffing breaks into a tight breakdown with a sweeping melody to complement it. The chorus opens up to a clean vocal hook before dropping into an absolutely disgusting breakdown as the energy of the song continues to build up until the final chorus.
“Dead and Gone (Automne)” isn’t just a display of technical prowess from a musical perspective, as the accompanying video articulates the perspective of a survivor during an impending apocalypse and the hopeless feeling of watching friends and loved ones drop dead while there’s nothing you can do about it. The storyline of the song shares some similarities with the classic “Zombie EP” from The Devil Wears Prada, sans the zombies. The hopelessness is truly captivated in the chorus line “I watch them fade away, watch them lose all hope. Now only time remains, I watch the world decay”.
Destroy//Create, a five-piece metalcore band hailing from Rochester, New York, brings the energy from the very start of the song and doesn’t let it die out. The group features world-class musicianship and vocal ability all around - composed of lead vocalist Adrian Enrique, guitarists James Gardner and Dylan Borelli, bassist Michael McCann, and drummer Jeff Cole, the group boasts incredible chops on their respective instruments and a dynamic mix of unclean and clean vocals.
Destroy//Create have an amazing ability to paint a cinematic picture in the heaviest manner possible, and “Dead and Gone (Automne)” is an example of that. The song is high energy from the very beginning and never slows down, but builds in heaviness. Destroy//Create are a group of incredibly talented musicians and artists that have a story to tell, and know exactly how to tell it in a way that sparks terror, fear, and raw emotion.