This is a little album review I have done for the folks over at The Metal Syndicate
check it out
1: Locust Swarm
This track starts out with a solid death metal riff and blast beats. Great verse that has a good tempo, something you can move to. A short guitar solo back in to the verse with lots of blast beats during the majority of the song. Vocals are on point, precise and clear. I am enjoying this track up to the chorus, a great track to listen to. Now the break down begins, it slows down; and has a punchy feel with some drum rollouts. The song continuously slows down in tempo giving it a brutal effect. The song ends with a note ringing out from the guitar.
2: The Stygian Deep
As the song fades in it has a slower feel to it but only for about 30 seconds. That’s when things pick up, with the verse and the blast beats kick in hard. I do enjoy when the bass of a metal band can be heard and not drowned out. When we reach the chorus the vocal pattern mixes with the guitar riffs. Think of it here as a complimenting symbiosis if you will as they are not trying to experiment with anything. They seem to want to make death metal the way they want to do it with no outside influences. Straight up death metal…no chaser.
3: Pathogenic Apathy
This one has a nice little drum intro to start the song off, no fading in, no guitar riff; just a one bar drum intro. As the guitars come in, the song takes on a mid tempo feel. Even when the verse begins, vocals come in and blast beats begin. Same feel to it and it maintains that same tempo; the few changes they make don’t seem to change the tempo so far. This is another song you can move to, be it head-banging or moshing. Pretty much whatever turns your crank… or wrecks it. The chorus has a loving feel to it as it has a menacing experience to it, I love that guitar riff. Three songs in and this album has yet to lose my interest. They don’t seem to be stepping out of their comfort zone by focusing on keeping the pace and the brutal feel to it. This is a solid track, I like it.
4: La Tempestad
Instant blast beats with mean riffing to start off. When the vocals come in they are relentless. This is a song that will be cool to hear live. This is a driving, no holds barred death metal song that willing to cut down everything in its path. I like it; no frills, nothing flashy. This is just a killer track that cuts to the bone. This is one of those songs containing 100% intensity till the very end.
5: Infernus
The title track starts out with a guitar riff as well as some spoken dialogue. It actually reminds me of Johan Hegg from Amon Amarth. However the beginning is a bit drawn out for my liking. When the metal vocals do come in; they are joined by a heavier riff from the guitar and a slower paced vibe that somehow still remains brutal. Right around the half-way point we witness a change of direction. We have nice little section of guitar riffing paired with drumming adding fills on every other bar. As if this song wasn’t already a decent tune it then reaches a whole other level during the second half. This song is so bad-ass I find myself being violated by the repeat button. I wish the whole song was like this… brutal and more brutal.
6: The Chosen One
The addition of Chason on drums was a great choice. The way this song starts out has so much intensity, energetic and yet it is precise with no hint of any sloppiness. This may be the only track I don’t care for the vocals as much. This song really brings back that old school Florida death metal feel. But I just don’t care for the vocals on this track.
7: Zealot, Crusader of War
The song starts out with some double bass rolling and a guitar riff; mid-tempo but not too fast or slow and chuggy. By the time the vocals come in the blast beats begin. The song is not bad, it just doesn’t really keep my attention. The chorus is rather enjoyable with mid section guitar riff at the half way mark is a nice classic solo. The change at the 2:50 minute mark takes on a different feel that I do not really care for. From that point on the song goes downhill.
8: Order of The Arcane Scripture
This has a riff I can get into right away. The drums I can get in to also. The vocals are better on this track (so far). This album really brings back that Florida death metal feel, in many ways this album is enjoyable because of that. Hate Eternal was not conforming to the industry standards for this albums sound and style. They seem to be just doing what they know how to do. Make relentless metal for sport.
9: Chaos Theory
A quite unexpected start to this track as it doesn’t have that typical death metal feel, the groove is different. One minute into the song and no vocals; quick tempo for this song keeps it interesting. This seems to be an instrumental track and an impressive one at that. This is not a melodic “let’s mellow out for a moment” track. What we call a solid fast paced metal instrumental bliss. I am still tremendously enjoying this song as it ends well. The last hit on the bell of a cymbal was the icing on the cake if you will.
10: O’Majestic Being, Hear My Call
This song starts out with a cool effect. A talk box for the guitars or a pedal effect, either way they start this song off oddly for the first thirty seconds… that is until the drums come in with a short fill to hit us with a blast beats. The guitar riff that is playing is nothing intricate as it just flows well to a not so mind blowing capacity. When the guitar solo happens I feel as though the song changes for the better. It seems like it will finish up strong. Maybe not as strong as I expected but the second half of the song is still pretty solid and makes up for it.
After listening to the cd, I can honestly say I have never been a huge fan of theirs nor have owned anything by them. I never thought they were that bad, just Hate Eternal is not my style of preference. I expected to listen to this and feel un-moved. From the day they released a track to stream, I wasn’t blown away. But, I must admit this album grew on me a little and for the better now that I’ve had the chance to get in a few more listens.
Mind blowing? No, but a solid no frills death metal album yes.
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-Badger \m/
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