Baltimore’s Erode make a violent, unflinching statement with Devout — a record that sounds like a full-force collision between metallic hardcore, death metal brutality, and industrial decay. Across eight dense, unrelenting tracks, Erode deliver some of the heaviest riffs in modern hardcore, driven by a rhythm section that hits with the precision and force of a demolition crew. This is music meant to overwhelm — all grit, no gloss.
From the very first seconds of the opener, “Immoral Flaw,” Erode establish their intent. Riffs cave in like collapsing concrete slabs while the bass churns beneath, thick and suffocating. The drums crack and explode, every snare hit sharp enough to slice through steel. There’s an almost mechanical precision to the way they layer their chaos — somewhere between Harm’s Way’s industrial menace and the nihilistic weight of Kickback or Whispers. The result is oppressive, claustrophobic, and intentionally uncomfortable — the kind of sound that feels like the walls are closing in.
But even within that brutality, Erode manage moments of haunting atmosphere. Reverb-soaked guitars hover above the destruction, creating textures that contrast with the otherwise concrete-heavy sound. Tracks like “Fever Dream” and “Middle Heaven” highlight this tension perfectly, weaving death metal extremity into hardcore’s rhythmic backbone. The blast beats and double-kick patterns stretch tension to its breaking point before detonating into catastrophic breakdowns.
Unfortunately, Devout’s biggest weakness lies in its vocal mixing. Frontman’s guttural lows, throat-shredding shrieks, and desperate mid-range howls all carry raw emotion, but they’re too often buried beneath the instrumentation. You can feel the rage; you just can’t always hear it clearly. It’s a frustrating production flaw, because the vocal range is one of Erode’s defining strengths — and the mix keeps it from fully commanding the space.
That said, when Erode pull in collaborators, the record opens up in fascinating ways. “As Rain Pours” (featuring Putricine) introduces melodic leads and eerie, whammy-soaked guitar lines that nod to early 2000s metalcore experimentation. It’s still heavy, but it breathes. Meanwhile, the title track, “Devout” (featuring Sinister Feeling), goes straight for the throat — all death metal ferocity and concrete-thick grooves. These tracks hint at a version of Erode that’s not just devastating, but dynamic — a band capable of blending chaos with control.
Even when the songs start to blur together, Devout stays compelling through sheer force of sound. “Suture” and “Coiled” ride monstrous grooves that demand a permanent mean mug, while “No Sacrifice” closes the record with a nod to Hatebreed — pure metallic stomp, updated with modern heaviness. The bass, refreshingly present throughout the album, often does the heavy emotional lifting the vocals can’t, anchoring every breakdown and surge.
What truly makes Devout stand out is its relentlessness. There’s no pretense here, no radio polish, no melodic compromise. It’s music built for the pit — for collapsing floors, flailing limbs, and cathartic violence. It thrives in density and chaos. But that same wall-of-sound production that gives Devout its crushing weight also holds it back from transcendence.
If the vocals were given more presence — the clarity and space they deserve — Devout could have been a genre-defining release. As it stands, it’s a brutal, suffocating slab of metallic hardcore, a testament to Erode’s vision and aggression. It’s music that doesn’t want your approval — just your attention, your volume, and maybe a few cracked ribs.
Devout is crushing, atmospheric, and unrelenting — proof that Baltimore’s Erode are here to dominate the next wave of heavy music. With sharper production, they wouldn’t just be brutal; they’d be unstoppable.
NOTABLE TRACKS:
IMMORAL FLAW
FEVER DREAM
COILED