Shiva - Planet Eater

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SHIVA delivers absolute carnage and brutality with their debut album “Planet Eater“— it’s everything great about deathcore. As soon as the first song “Hand of Death” hits, I’m already bobbing my head along and I was thrilled to be hearing music that reminded me of deathcore big players SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL. The title track “Planet Eaters” has some vocals that will destroy your ear holes in the best way. The vocals are very reminiscent of early CHELSEA GRIN. Other bands I heard hints of throughout include some metalcore giants AFTER THE BURIAL, FEED HER TO THE SHARKS, and BORN OF OSIRIS.

The interlude “Last March” reminds of the theme music from the horror saga “Saw” and is ominous and one of the few interludes I actually enjoy as it doesn’t feel random or out of place from the rest of the music. What I dig most about SHIVA and their debut is that they’ve managed to take a lot of deathcore elements that I love about other bands in the genre and make them their own. It’s not so much like other deathcore bands that it doesn’t stand out and shine on its own. And each song has a little something different and unique from the rest of the album while still maintaining continuity.

Vocals are always a big thing for me when it comes to the overall sound of a band, sometimes it's make or break, and the vocal abilities of Taylor Humpries are truly awesome — he seems to do a little bit of everything. We get the deep gutturals, high devilish screams, and even some clean singing. The seventh song “Plagued” and title track “Planet Eaters” are great examples of his range. Plus, deathcore is all about the breakdowns and this album has some seriously gnarly ones.

“Punk Goes Crunk” fans will love the cover of KANYE WEST’s “New Slaves.” It’s fun and they pull it off awesomely. I also love that they’ve included an instrumental version of their song “Plagued” as I feel they’re able to really show off their musical abilities. It proves just how badass their guitars, bass, and drums really are and it’s such an epic song — it may be even more epic as an instrumental. I’m definitely a SHIVA fan after listening to this debut and look forward to hearing what they do in the future, as well as any possible tours.

Songwriting: 9
Musicianship: 9
Memorability: 10
Production: 8