Review Summary: Dysentery grinds its way through the competition, establishing itself as a brutal force in the gorier fields of death metal.
When it comes to subgenres of death metal, I'm not one for overclassification. You won't find stuff like "deathcore", "techdeath", "goregrind", or "speedcore" on my iTunes - just "death metal" and "everything else". People who argue about genres tend to tick me off, so I try to not feed the fire.
All this genre talk brings us to the band that's been called "slamming brutal death" by some, and "the next
Cannibal Corpse" by others. Massachusetts grinders
Dysentery play excellent live shows, but suffered from poor production value in their first album. Rectifying this problem, at least partially, was a must for their second album, and the production quality increase is definitely felt from the get-go here. The drums and guitarwork sound much more polished, as do the vocals, and that's not only because of an upgrade to production - Dysentery's skills have increased dramatically from their past album. The drumwork seems particularly more diverse and powerful this time around, and the vocals have a much more dramatic feel to them.
The instrumental opener "Epilogue" sets the mood fairly well, and "Beyond the Light, Amongst the Shadows", the follow-up track, is a very good indicator of what the band sounds like and what you'll hear throughout the rest of the album. While their niche of metal isn't particularly known for its song-to-song individuality, Dysentery does a great job of separating itself from its competition in that the band can establish a setting without sacrificing a powerful, unrelenting sound. The sheer brutality of certain tracks, namely "Entropic Putrefaction", the title track "Internal Devastation", and "Genocidal God" lend very well to the record. The best part about this album, though, is that it's addicting. To make use of a potato chip marketing quote, you really can't listen to just one song and then go listen to something else. You'll be left with wanting more Dysentery (as strange as that sounds when read aloud). That's not exactly saying "you can't get enough of it", but it's pretty damn close.
Dysentery's overall sound with
Internal Devastation is indicative of skill and force not found in many underground death metal bands. They may not be on par with Cannibal Corpse just yet, but they're on the right track. If you're a fan of any of the gorier metal bands (Cannibal Corpse,
Cattle Decapitation, etc.), you should definitely check this album out.
Recommended Tracks
1.) "Beyond Light, Amongst t he Shadows"
2.) "Entropic Putrefaction"
3.) "Internal Devastation"
4.) "A World Apart"
5.) "Genocidal God"
6.) "Decimation of Fear"
