Its been awhile since we’ve heard from these death metal dudes from Chicago. and it’s too bad ‘cause they’ve got a pretty solid, groove-laden & basic approach here.
This is more reminicent of early 90’s death metal in when the riff ruled and not how many notes you can wank. For reference points: Unleashed, Obituary, Bolt Thrower, Master, and maybe a dirty sounding Six Feet Under (so I’m cheating they started in ‘95). Despite the slowness and simplicity - this is not actually boring to listen as so much of this genre is nowadays. Believe it or not but it’s death metal with (mostly) intelligible vocals.
(1) Just somebodys plumbing and someone walking upstairs, and a few birds deep into the mix. Totally unecessary intro.
(((2))) Catchy, 5-6 chords number with a nice breakdown. Parts of this remind one of Obitary’s “Chopped In Half” or “Latudarium” by Master.
((((3)))) Really excellent 3 chord structure and some really great n’ brutal breakdowns. Sounds like he’s singing “Rottt-tt to diiiie!” Either way it kicks ass!
((((4)))) Fuck yes! More great riffing and a lot of parts similar to Obituary mixed with Master + almost Discharge-like “d-beats” in the mix
((((5)))) Thrash mixed with groovy. Something like a leftover from the early days of Fear Factory. Kinda doomy in places but all over catchy and headbagin’ worthy!
((((6)))) Super simple sorta of thrashin’ death metal. Rad vocal breakdowns and well-done “jud-jud-jud” parts
(((7))) A whole lotta palm muted riffing and a pretty fun (yes, I said FUN!) doom/death/death n’ roll vibe.
(((8))) Rolling tempo that’s kind of like Six Feet Under with some good stop-starts sections. Really nice slow riff parts that’s similar to 80’s thrash metal breakdowns.
((((9)))) Speaking of thrash-metal...fuckin’ a this starts with a bass intro and then jumps up with some ripping thrashin’ death. They keep it fairly contemporary with the super “jud-jud” breakdowns.
(((10))) Thudding, Master/Obituary vibe circa: 1991-92. They actually go up the guitar neck a few more notes than before but “math-metal” this ain’t! Not bad but this one’s kinda “there”.
((((11))))) A bit like track #9 aka: It’s thrashin’ & death metal laden but this one has a bit deeper sound in the guitars and the vocals.
(((12))) Sounds like the intro to Deicide’s “Revocate the Agitator” and inf fact this has a number of different Deicide-like parts like that squirrelly string of high notes but mostly this stays in the Master/Obituary frame of references.