Album Review: Open Kasket – “Trials of Failure” (Death Metal/Hardcore)

If the past few years have taught us anything beyond the fact that we are all absolutely fucked, it’s that hardcore kids sure as shit know how to make some killer death metal. You know the gang: Gates to Hell, Maul, Terminal Nation, Tribal Gaze, and all the rest playing that Acacia Strain support-slot-in-waiting type death metal that you could probably call deathcore had the term not already been taken by, you know, all the shit bands (with all due respect to the good ones, of course). Anyway, that’s what Open Kasket do, too: mean af, spinkick-ready, beatdown-heavy death metal, presented with scarcely a moment’s respite on their crushing debut full-length Trials of Failure.

Formed in 2022, Open Kasket found their groove pretty much right away with the release of their debut EP in the September of that year and they have firmly stayed the course on all that has followed (a second EP in 2023, a stand-alone single last year, and a couple of tracks on a split with Boston death metallers Torn in Half which also appear on this record). All this makes the assignment for the step-up to a full-length relatively straightforward: double down, beef up, and do it for it a little longer, which is exactly what Trials of Failure does.

Longer, yes, but it’s no odyssey. The band come thundering in thick and heavy with opener “Ersatz (Sine Die)” and essentially remain in full steamroller mode for all but the final minute or so of the tight half-hour to follow. Subsequent tracks “No Value” and “Internal Threat” are early highlights, both swinging big chuggy riffs and sledgehammer breakdowns about with no regard for listener safety, and the latter marked out further still by a savage and unmistakable guest spot from Stan Liszewski of the aforementioned Terminal Nation.

As is normal enough for a band like this, Open Kasket tend to rely more on sudden lurches in tempo rather than any significant dynamic peaks and troughs for variation across the record, although both “Should” and “Putrid Existence” paired back to back in the middle of proceedings do venture a little more atmospheric with more spacious guitar work floating over lumbering bass and drum grooves in a way that really allows you to stand back and appreciate just how hard the band are hitting you the rest of the time. There’s no fall off or petering out in the second half either. Seventh track “Defective” boasts some of the album’s wildest and most compelling riffing, while “Chain Whip” and “Chemical Death” save further stand-out guest features from Bryson Sherick of Backbiter and Jackson Edwards of Zashed to bring a little added flavour to the home straight.

Thematically, Trials of Failure is suitably bleak and despairing. It’s all about self-deprecation and self-criticism, and the lyrics that jump out most like “I have no value” and “Fuck your existence / Drown in despair” make that abundantly clear. You also don’t need a 90-day deciphering gutturals streak on Duolingo to pick up on the overall vibe, with producer Connor Haines (No Cure, Fox Lake) providing a thick and oppressive mix that is essentially how these things are supposed to sound but also does match up with the band’s despondent outlook perfectly.

THE BOTTOM LINE

At the end of the day Trials of Failure might not win many points for originality, but when has originality ever knocked anyone’s teeth out anyway? If you’re into all the hardcore-influenced death metal that’s been throwing its limbs around lately you should find a lot to like here; if not, your loss. Also one of the tracks is called “Bruised Sprainstein”. Quality.