Commotio Cordis - Self Titled

Commotio Cordis is a band that hails from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Their name is derived from the Latin term for a generally fatal heart condition induced when something (or generally someone) disrupts the beating rhythm of your heart. Commotio Cordis has commonly occurred in organized sports, mostly due to hard hits and the like. So like many death metal bands Commotio cordis have picked a name centered around death, and like plenty of bands in the genre, it makes for a great name and makes you delve into information you might not have looked up before. You learn something new every day!

Anyhow, Commotio Cordis are a deathcore band and I must say it’s hard not to be impressed with their debut album. These guys are in a situation similar to Dweller, In Reverence, and plenty of other bands, where the talent is more than there, they just need the exposure.

Their influences are drawn from many places, but I feel they have a lot in common with Thy Art Is Murder’s style of deathcore. One that hits hard pretty much all the time, but has enough lead guitar in it to keep things interesting and far above a more generic breakdown laden sound.  The overall tone of their music is similar, and the style of writing reminds me heavily of them. Not to say that Commotio Cordis are directly ripping off Thy Art Is Murder, there’s a lot of fresh writing and great lyrics to be found on this self-titled album, and Thy Art Is Murder is a fantastic band to take inspiration from.

There is room for improvement still however. Something feels like it’s missing on this album. It’s not disjointed or anything like that, but there is something about this album that doesn’t make it feel all that connected. It’s a great collection of songs, but I feel like it can be a bit all over the place overall.

Plenty of times on this album though you’ll find yourself listening to some very memorable parts. ‘Choices’ makes excellent use of Charlie Chaplin’s speech from the Great Dictator (which if you haven’t seen you really should), and the following song ‘Inevitable Agenda’ has an awesome bass part in the beginning  along with a bass solo later on and one of the most crushing breakdowns you’ll ever. I know many people loathe breakdowns (or their overuse in deathcore more specifically) but a well-placed breakdown can really make a song fantastic, and this is one of those moments.

As a deathcore fan there is plenty to love about this band. Their self-titled album is more than a great start to their career, and with time they are surely only going to get better. These guys could use a like on Facebook, and if you can go buy their album!