Review Summary: Move over Prussian Blue, the catchiest White Power album of all time belongs to Seges Findere
My favorite extreme metal releases from 2012 has come from bands that I had not heard prior to these recent albums. The more established acts I know (ARTS, Grinning Death's Head, Drudkh, Ash Pool) have put out some quality releases this year but it's the new blood I've discovered (Kaevum, Crusader No Remorse, Seges Findere) who's truly dominating the boards. It's the new blood who's going ham and putting out some aesthetically impressive, hard-hitting, dynamic extreme metal. Seges Findere will be the band that I will write about today although technically they aren't that new of a band.
Forming in South America around 1999, these Brazilian hate-mongers have been spewing bestial blackened death metal for more than a decade. Themes of war, death, Satan, antisemitism, and Aryan pride have influenced their sound both musically and lyrically with various sound samples and marching drum beats added on to enhance their sound. Many people will not tolerate the NSBM tag of Seges Findere simply because they are ***heads. Anybody who truly appreciates black and death metal will enjoy this because it's a powerful and dynamic record that seamlessly blends the two genres together.
The music of "Genocidal Offensive" is catchier than it has the right to be. Massive, lumbering riffs tower above you, inspiring you to both nod your head and stitch a totenkopf on your sleeve. The rhythmic approach of the guitars give the music a "battle cry" like quality that only certain bands like Bathory,Vreid and Unleashed can muster. The riffs make you want to fight some people, particularly those who you do not like. The guitars are powerful and forceful, although mostly used for chugging they set the tone of the record and give off a prideful, defiant spirit. Random sound clips including but not limited to machine gun bursts, animal squealing and distant airplane sounds give some theatrical flair to the music. Some will find this interesting and others I'm sure will find it pretentious. I don't care either way because it doesn't add on or detract from the music.
Vocals are very musky and compliment the aggressive music very well. Most of the time they are mid range death growls that sacrifice intelligibility for atmosphere but they at times can pick up and become more violent if they need to. The vocals are hard to decipher, masking the malicious lyrics and intent behind them which should inspire those said ***heads who can't tolerate racism in metal to give this a chance.
The rhythm section is pretty impressive even if the drums tend to dominate the mixing. The drumming patterns are loud and aggressive, alternating between slow/fast tempos with marching sequences thrown in for good measure. Bass is swallowed up by the drumming and the guitars but it's presence can be heard from time to time.
The songwriting on this album is pretty straight forward yet pretty engaging for blackened death metal. Every song has it's memorability factor as the steady riff supply, sample usage and dusty growls keeps the music interesting and heavy. My only complaints with the record is that more black metal influence wasn't incorporated. Whether it be more tremolo picking or high pitched screams, I would have loved to hear more "blackened" ideas being expanded upon. I'd also like to hear the production toned down a little. Scale back the drumming a bit and make the sound a bit rawer and this would be perfect to my ears.
