Degradead's metallic philosophy mirrors the pop-laden, metalcore-flirting of In Flames, with all the clean vocals and poor song writing intact. There is not one instance in which one of the ten tracks pulls a zinger out of left-field and emits something interesting; instead, the album finds its focus from predictable verses and choruses cycling in a bland, banal rhythm. The band's modus operandi requires little brainpower to understand. A self-painted portrait, no doubt. The microwavable structuring is, however, secondary to the musical atrocities committed throughout "A World Destroyer." Juvenile, pseudo-death/thrash metal riffs given a sprinkle of melody defines the record's guitar playing; the one-two percussion beats and other drumming patterns typically found in the crappier side of melodic death metal are the law; and the spectrum of vocal styles (growling, shouting, clean singing, etc.) are totally off-key and unquestionably terrible.

On the merciful side of things, Degradead occasionally gets a listenable riff out here and there, but to credit them otherwise would be unwarranted. Perhaps there was a glimmer of potential: the opening "A Taste of Destiny" unwraps neatly with an enjoyable riff, but soon keyboards and vomit-inducing clean vocals appear, totally throwing off the first impression. They seemingly make an attempt to cover all of melodic death's bases once they drive into "Cold Blood," an anthem that contains more qualities to The Absence than you'd care to hear. Ironically, it's my favorite song from "A World Destroyer" because (a) the music isn't total trash, and (b) they sound like The Absence. Call me narrow-minded, but it's the only cut that truly heightened my curiosity.

Everything else is forgettable and offensive. "A World Destroyer" makes me wonder why melodic death metal has taken this route instead of appealing to real, authentic Gothernburg hymns that were once the stone-cold definition of this sound. This simpler direction, too, isn't horrible if there's some variety and decent song writing involved, but that's where Degradead fails. The group looks confused and mesmerized by the hip and trendy gimmicks instilled by In Flames and other "me-too" bands pollinating the melodic death image with minimal brainpower and elementary-level song writing. "A World Destroyer" thoroughly collapses, so don't let Degradead waste your time.