Review Summary: Death Metal that manages to display the mediocrity that the scene is filled with as of late.
If you’re reading this review than you should be fairly familiar with the sub-genre of TXDM that has been extremely popular in the scene for quite some years, essestinally it’s just your run of the mill Brutal Death Metal. However, I know first hand, being that I’m from the great state this particular genre gets it’s namesake, that we Texans are extremely proud of our state and will find ways to mention it as much as we can ands this is really no exception.
Okay, now that I’ve gotten that “history” lesson out of the way let me move onto the subject of this review, that being the El Paso based trio Devour The Unborn. Technically they all aren’t from Texas, their vocalist is Diego of the well known Italian slammers Vulvectomy, but the band labels themselves as TXDM so I’ll move along. They recently released their debut full length “Devouring the Morgue Remains” on underground death metal label Ossuary Industries, it consists of eight tracks spanning the course of a little over 34 minutes.
The album begins with a sample(surprise, surprise) of a women letting out agonizing screams, little did I know that I would feel like the aforemention woman once this album was finished. Immediately after the sample ends three cymbal strikes announce the start of the musical assault. I’m not going to waste your time with a dissection of each track, because honestly they all sound similar. Each track consist of a minimum of 3-4 slams, and Devourment “Molesting the Decapitated"-era un-audible blast parts, and completely useless(also extremely irritating) vocals. Normally I can handle the monotonous gurgles, burps, etc but I have never been a fan of Diego’s vocals and this effort has done nothing to change my opinion. Now, I know whatever you’re thinking “OF COURSE they sound similiar you moron, it’s Brutal Death Metal” and I understand that, seeing as how’ve I’ve listened to hundreds if not thousands of albums of this genre. With that being said the great, and even the not so great ones find a way to write cohesive songs that manage to be a step above mediocre. Either Devour The Unborn love meddling in mediocrity or they need in a lesson in the field of “How to successfullly construct a Death Metal song.”
With all that being said if you need a dose of downtuned, three chord slam this album will most certainly appeal to you. The reason I gave it a 2.5 instead of a lower rating is because I myself am a sucker for some slam riffs, and there are a few on here that had moving my head. However, none remotely entertaining or memorable enough to remember which song they belonged to.
