Band: A Thousand Times Repent

Album: Virtue Has Few Friends

Genre: Brutal Deathcore

Rating: 10/10

This was another band that was very difficult to find information on. They were only around for a short time. They were what I call a "One EP Wonder". But boy was the EP that they made incredible. It still remains one of my favorites to this day. "Virtue Has Few Friends" was released back in 2007. It was then re-released with a different cd sleeve. The old one looked like this

     The later release looked like the image at the top of this post.

The album beings with some demonic giggling, followed by a young girl saying "You are demons. I think the only thing you will taste today, is your own blood." You're then immediately greeted with some of the best pig squeal vocals I've heard since Impending Doom's only good album "The Sin and Doom of Godless Men". The vocals are absolutely phenomenal. The instrumental work is pretty good, and relies on riffs; like you would expect in a deathcore release such as this. The last 40 seconds of this song are an incredible breakdown. Breakdowns aren't something I really care about, since I'm very selective with my "core" music. But this one is nothing but incredible. It starts brutal, and ends brutal. 

     The rest of the album is just as great. "A Band of Hunters Stalk in Edo" and "That Was the Night Everything Changed" both have soft vocal/instrumental sections at their ends. One song I'd like to do is take some time to talk about is the last song on the album, "Complete Relinquish. Utter Abandon". It certainly isn't something that you would EVER expect to hear at the end of such a powerful and brutal deathcore album. The entire song is nothing but piano and vocals. The vocals are beautiful. The lyrics are beautiful. It simply isn't something you'd ever expect from a deathcore band, especially for their first release. It's a must-listen. And the best part is, even your overly-conservative grandmother will enjoy this track. 

     If you find yourself privileged to come across this gem, pick it up and hold on for dear life. Anyone who likes brutal music will love this album. It's what deathcore should be. It's a real shame that the band never released anything after this. I don't know anything about the band's splitting up, outside of the fact that they needed a new drummer. I only learned that because if you go to the band's Myspace page, you'll see "looking for a new drummer" in their name.