When thinking of the recent rise in Deathcore acts over the past few years, most of them can be pinpointed to predictable areas on the map, namely in the US or the UK. One of the countries which doesn’t exactly spring to mind for a Deathcore act to be found is Belarus, but sure enough newcomers BFI prove that metal is ubiquitous and just as clear in mind as when it started off 40 years ago. The band’s name stands for “Belorussian Focking Idiots”, for reasons unclear until you give their début EP For The Brotherhood a spin. Placing themselves somewhere between Emmure and Parkway Drive with touches of proper Death Metal, they cut a clear and straight path in the allotted 20-minute, 7-track slot, with plenty of energy to burn.

The intro starts off promisingly with a melodic riff before kicking into a pseudo-breakdown, before an amusing cry of “Are you ready, fuckers? Let’s go!” from vocalist Neganov. The first proper track, “Last Night Together With My Friends”, lets the listener know the band’s intentions fairly quickly: breakdown-heavy chugging with some melodic noodling from Gleb Kondratyuk and Grischenko, backed up by a rhythm comprised of Volchek’s surprisingly audible bass and (presumably brother) Oleg Kondratyuk on the tight drumming. The comparisons to Emmure are fairly inevitable, particularly on the title track, but then BFI will pull out a tapped solo or Gothenburg riff to lighten the mood, such as on my personal favorite “Nothing Is More To Come”, which also sports an echo of Suffocation after the intro. Finally, the band decide to pull out all the stops on “Open Up Wide”, introducing a hilarious audio sample of “Ah fockin’ ‘ate pikeys”*, a strong melodic lead for the chorus and an outro comprising of a choir section.