Let’s face it, it’s 2016 now and, at this point, there is no reason at all to still be listening to metal/hardcore in a 4/4 time signature. It’s boring, is based in eighth notes (snooze-fest incoming, am I right?), and is significantly easier to transcribe due to lack of mixed meter. That is where Lansdale, Pennsylvania’s Cetus comes into play, local mathcore stalwarts who are determined to make you go through at least three pieces of staff paper working out the time signature for their sweet, math-y grooves.
However, Cetus is not like other mathcore bands who worship the hectic, blast beat filled approach of genre pioneers like Botch and The Dillinger Escape Plan, but a beast all their own as they allow the groove that is inherent in much mixed meter to shine through by taking the tempo down a few notches into a thicker, sludgier area. Luckily, this does not equate to any loss in the overwhelming amount of energy the band conveys so effectively but rather allows them to explore the style in a way all their own, effectively setting them apart.
If more bands want to explore the inherent groove in sludge and mathcore together as one, it might be a good idea, since it most definitely works for Cetus.