Herakleion : "the Necroverse"

 

This band from New Orleans breaks away from the expected southern fried sludge grime. They sound like they should be from Tampa, due to the old-school death metal they grind out. Their debut is a five-song EP, that does show you what they are capable of. It also shows what their challenges will be when it comes to growing into their own entity as a band, as they lean in the direction of being an "Altars of Madness" era Morbid Angel tribute band. "the Tome" is the song that makes the best argument for them being their own thing, as it is more angular in its groove and breaks from worshipping so fervently in the Chapel of Ghouls. 

They get back into Moribitity with "Where Crows Dare Not Go". The way this album is mixed helps them not replicate the sound, but the riffs are coming close. The vocals are phrased like David Vincent if they came from John Tardy's vocal chords. So vocalist Apollo's voice is not as low as Vincent's, giving him a more mid-range rasp that is emoted in the over-accentuated manner Tarby howls and spews on Obituary albums. The band claims to also be influenced by Voivod, and aside from the angular qualities of the guitar, I do not hear this as they lack the more dissonant sonic sound of Voivod.  I had to listen to both "Where Crows Dare Not Go' and "Blood of Nessus" as the two songs ran together.  The slower breakdown is what separates them, with the latter being more deliberate. The way the vocals fall is not helping them step away from the Morbid Angel thing. It's well executed just not very original. ;

On the last song they do break away from sounding like Morbid Angel, instead, they sound like Obituary. I wish they did have more Voivod in their sound, although I love both Morbid Angel and Obituary, there lies the problem, I have the entire discography of both of those bands, so I have little use for these guys. I mean if you are a teenager just getting into metal, perhaps you might be fooled and some might say I am harsh in my criticism in this regard, but there is only so much time in the day to listen to music, so you have to use that time wisely, I hear hundreds of bands a year so I am looking for stuff that really stands out and does it's own thing. These guys are good at paying tribute to the bands that inspire them I hope to hear more original songs in the future. I will give this album an 8, based on the execution It drops September 13th. 

pst386