Texas has been a death metal hotbed lately, so I had to give this band a shot. They might have the same knack for writing hooky songs that Frozen Soul does but are carving out their own path. They show a willingness to experiment and are not afraid to fuck with the death metal formula on the opening track, then come back to prove they are capable of hitting you ample guitar tonnage to crush your eardrums with on the second song. The vocals are produced interestingly with smart overdubs and effects on them to create a more otherworldly narrative. One of their strengths in songwriting is the economic nature of their arrangement and the ability to compare compactly as all the songs fall under the three-minute mark. They pack a great deal into the song within that time frame.
They hammer you with blast beats on 'Those Who Obey". While the dry growls are not the most powerful, the vocal phrasing is well-plotted and makes the most of what they are working with. They are also very dynamic knowing when to slow down and pulling back before your ears get numbed out by the speed fest. Lyrically things owe more to Morbid Angel, with 'Those Who Obey" almost serving as a tribute to the God of Emptiness. There is a more deliberate groove to "The Temple Fires " that makes this one of the strongest songs so far, even when they go into the blasting since they have already given you something to contrast it with. They hand out a well-balanced pounding for "Aeon' that showcases their extensive collection of aural torture devices.
There is less of this balance in "The Light of Long Dead Stars". The music sounds like it would be better suited for a Cannibal Corpse song than something with a celestial theme. The hammering double bass makes it clear that the drummer is talented, but you must be to play death metal. They pull off all the sound and execute the maneuvers needed of death metal with their picks and pedals in a precise manner, though the feel of what this is meant to convey begins to lose some of the edge when the same blunt instruments hit the same way. The blast beats of the last song might be what a certain portion of the genre's fan base but they prove when the attack is more deliberate the results are better. Though they are in a tug of war with this and cool riffs alone does not a good song make is the bedrock from which this blog was built. However they are so good at what they do when it works, and none of the songs are such grievous offenders that songs are not worth at least a second listen so I will give this album an 8.5, and see if it grows on me. Everlasting Spew drops it on August 30th.
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