The vocals are always unpredictable. While usually staying with the deep often times barking screams, once in a while Guy slips in some high pitch shrieking. In fact, he does it often. But the vocals themselves do not make the music. The instruments blend extremely well together. The guitars retain a steady constant sound. Most of the time they produce some rhythmic and extemely heavy power chords, but often they randomly slip in some pinch harmonics to add a feeling of random chaos. Lead riffs and licks are rare in some songs but blatantly obvious in others - occasionally you may spot some but ultimately they stick with downtuned brutal riffs in some songs, but if you're paying attention you'll notice other articulation. But the others remind me of many brutal death bands I love oh so much. The bass, as expected, is rarely heard. Most of the bass lines are just guitar-hugging rhythms unfortunately. Obviously the basslines are solid enough to add a heavy low end to the music but don't expect any mad crazy lead bass work. There are a few songs that break for a few second bass solo but Weeks is no Les Claypool. The drums I find to be quite cool. The drums are one of the most consistently unconsistent instruments on the record. If anything is random about their stuff, it's the drumming. Switching from double bass to blast beats to snare rolls to powerful beats with a lot of 'cymbalism' kept me listening on an instrumental level. Rpetitive is the last thing that comes to mind, since every several seconds Fickeiser is doing something different. 'Tis quite crazy.
All in all, this was an impressive debut I think. The music is fairly diverse when you think about it. Tracks like
Nihilist are very hardcore with randome guitar playing and shrieking vocals, and even a brief break for the bass. But other songs, such as
Catalepsy, couldn't have been heavier - insane drumming ranging from blast beats to double bass, low pitch heavy as hell guitar riffs and growling vocals dominate. It has something for all kinds of people. But overall it's the tracks that combine both that are the most interesting. Songs such as the minute and fifty second epic
L Formation begin with brutal drumming/guitar playing and deep vocals but the alternate with random scales and shrieking. There's even a clean guitar section.
Not only is the music itself interesting, but so is the way they utilize sounds that accent their music in a freakish way. With a hilarious intro,
Dreaming in Dog Years was the first song I heard and got me hooked. The depressing electronic sounds of the intro to
That Certain Special Ugly seems to help achieve their intended sound, producing a morbid atmosphere. The odd static sounds, which almost resemble a broken radio transmition, sound very dark and death-oriented. Four minutes of this horror show follows the track
Sixteen Bit Fingerprint.
But redundant rage and confusion is not the only emotion displayed in this album. The death metal highlight
Sixteen Bit Fingerprint is one of the most impressive songs I've heard in the genre period. Brutal heaviness is complimented with slower sections. There are many flowing melodic riffs present giving a saddening sound - one which I have grown to appreciate. Clean guitar rhythm riffs are riddled throughout the album producing a slight breather from the sheer brutality of it. The song
Breed the Cancer even possesses some sort of a psychological atmosphere. The intro is haunting with some crazy guitar noises. But if it weren't for the vocals, this song would be purely 100% metal.
A fusion like this I have not heard often. The core/death metal combo hits me in the right place. The album has so many dimensions beyond the average aggression that it is an interesting listen on so many levels. All instruments are played exactly how they should've been and sampling was perfected where it was needed. Any aggressive music fan should check this out - if I like than many others may be converted as well.
Recommended tracks:
Catalepsy
Dreaming in Dog Years
Sixteen Bit Fingerprint
This band is recommended for fans of: Between the Buried and Me
Final Rating - 4.5/5
Unique in a strange way...give this a chance, and enjoy if you can. :thumb:
