Death is June - Phantom Corporation :"Fallout"

 

When we start talking about where crust and d-beat cross over into death metal, what we are really talking about is punk rockers trying to play death metal, which is met with mixed results. I mean these guys are seasoned pros who have played in such bands as Dew Scented, Eroded and Obscenity to try their hand at this sort of thing. It is not until three songs in that I begin to hear some sonic nuances in play. The vocals are at more of a throaty punk snarl, and the songs move like methed out thrash. The gang vocals of "Gridlock" are balanced out by some of the more melodic guitar lines in the background. They are never straying far from the anger projected on the first two songs, they are just offering more layers to it, which is all I really need from this German band. 

They race ahead with more of a hard core feel going into "Alongside Hell". Things don't shift much in intensity when they hit you with marginally more deliberate and nuanced "Vortex of Torment". Things are still very metallic, and you can hear the Slayer influence all over this album.  The fast palm muted guitar of "Spiritual Arsonists' gets the point across and hits you with a more metal aggression. There is plenty of thrash in the veins of the guitarist. When it goes into moshing grooves they are at peak powers of songwriting. Around "No Tomorrow" the begin to give into the need for speed and lose the more interesting facets of their song writing to this, causing everything to sound the same. There is still some thrashing gas left in the tank, but it feels like you have heard it before. Sure some guitar solos show up, but I need more than that to keep my interest. 

The blitz continues to be just as relentless on "the Echoes of Doom". It feels stiff and rushed. There is a bit of an Obituary influence detectable in places. I was not paying attention to "Excessive Force" and it just blasted right past me. At this speed the vocals become haphazard ranting.  I will give this album a 7.5, it works more often than not, they could have found a better way to channel their anger into the songs at times to have made it more sonically nuance, but this is what it is and if you like your metal to lean in the direction of punk this will work just fine for you.