Belgium's death metal maniacs are back. Their new album has some or some band guesting on each song. The opening track which is a Hyperspeed fest, that fans of this brand of death metal should enjoy, features, Shadow of Intent's Ben and Chris. So extra growls and shredding. The sweep-picked fret fury is more melodic than expected. I normally do not like technical over-produced death metal and prefer mind darker and more organic, but the first song is so good at what it does that it wins me over. this occurrence is not uncommon in most forms of extreme metal, where it is so heavy it bowls your ever with intensity and does not give you time to stop and analyze if they can write a decent song.
Then the plight of this kind of thing is further exploited as after being punched by the initial blast of sound, you are numbed out to the assault that follows on the second song, and everything begins to sound the same. Fleshgod Apocalypse's vocalist lending his growl to the song does not change matters. What does help is when the band grooves more on "Brotherhood of Sleep" Johnny from Angelmaker, lends his growls to this one, which is effective, as they vary a bit from just gutturals. The vocalist from Despised Icon, snarls a bit on "Death Cult" which benefits from more thoughtful songwriting. Former Abigail Williams drummer Ken Bedene who has been sitting behind the kit for these guys since 2012, continues to bring the good and is the hardest-working member of this band.
Cryptopsy's growler joins them for "Hellbound" which is a relentless speed fest that blasts by in a rabid blur. I know nuance is not what this kind of death metal is known for, but a dash might do them some good. If you are into guitar solos this one is worth paying attention to. Ingested's Jason Evans gets brutal for the more grindcore-like explosion that is "Insect Politics". Hal from Engulf appears in "The Golgothan". If you like what goes down here it might be worth checking out Engulf's new album as well. Lyrically things are supposed to be based on horror movies., and while there are speculations as to what song aligns with what movies, I have not heard the official word from the band so I am not going to speculate.
Oliver from Archspire guests on "The Shape of Hate". The song is so rapid-fire it does not leave any t time to grab on to any riff. The vocal performance works but also feels rushed. Another banger if guitar solos are your main focus. By this point in the album, the fast playing has exhausted The growler from Signs of the Swarm, is doing what he does. I liked the album Signs of the Swarm released last year, so I am not opposed to this sort of thing. The last song finds Ricky Hoover of Ov Sulphur, bringing yet another growl to the party. It has been an interesting experiment trying to distinguish these varied growls and hear who is showing up to the mic with something new, though it tends to be rather uniform. I will give this one a 7.5, as it all kinds sounds the same, some songs are more effective but the shift in dynamics is pretty marginal,. Chances are if you are into this sort of thing you just want it to be in your face, but I am not going to suggest rounding it up, as even if this sound is your jam, I am not sure what fresh ideas are being involved from a songwriting experience. At this point when I see someone wearing an Aborted shirt I am going to assume they just like generic modern death metal.
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