Album Review: Renounced – Beauty Is A Destructive Angel

Though hailing from London – and counting Employed To Serve guitarist Sammy Urwin in their ranks – Renounced’s sound is rooted in the Massachusetts metalcore of the early ‘00s. With a penchant for blistering, machine gun chuggery a la Unearth and pitching their formidable weight against seductive melody, there’s a strong sense of throwback, yet at the same time it feels fresh and now.

With a commanding sense of dynamics at their disposal, the most compelling aspect of Renounced’s music lies in the rich sense of post rock-esque melancholy that insinuates into many of the tracks contained here, frequently best described as ‘beautiful’.

This is most prominently manifested on the lushly layered passages of In A Years Turning and the textured guitars of Calculated Risk, which give way to a truly gorgeous acoustic outro. It’s not wrong to suggest that Renounced give the originators of this style a run for their money here.

Verdict: 4/5