German surf rock is the first part that does not compute in this equation, but here we are with a band claiming to be a surf rock death metal band. The first song finds them as a pretty typical modern death metal band until a minute in a half into the song when it breaks down to a more strummed guitar, but nothing a progressive death metal band would not do. It is well done, but not as adventurous as what I was expecting. The vocals are an incomprehensible grunt.
They remind me of a cross between Aborted and the Browning on the second song. What is going to happen is these guys are going to use one surf rock riff for a minute in one song and think that means they need to take their promo pictures on the beach. "Throne of Bones" starts off making you think they might have more groove before going into something that feels like the previous song. By the time we get to "Apex Predator," I am getting bored because I have already heard this kind of death metal. I want something new.
We get more strummed guitar, and I begin to think maybe I am right, and Germans do not know what surf rock is; they could have no clue about what was happening in California during the early '60s. However, "Baptized in Blood" is a little more interesting than the previous three songs. They end this with a strummed acoustic guitar, which must mean Opeth was surf rock. I would hope the song "Cult of the Green' would be about smoking pot, but you can't make out the pig squeals to under stand the lyrics anyway. The pace is more deliberate, so that brings groove to the table for a minute at least.
I just have to power through three more songs, and if there is not a single surf rock riff on this album I am rounding down two points. They execute the more brutal style of death metal well enough to be professionals, but there is nothing new here so far, and this deep into the album, I am giving up hope. The band's name alone should have clued me in; if there was going to be surf-rock, they would not be called Stillbirth, but Tiki Cannibals, Beach Blanket Bloodbath, or Nuclear Shark.
I made it all the way to the last song, which opens with more acoustic guitar. Yes, people play acoustic guitars at the beach on occasion, but that does not mean it is surf music. There are some rock-influenced riffs thrown in, but nothing remotely like Link Wray or, at this point, I'll accept the Beach Boys. Thanks to the false advertisement that drew me in and wasted my time, I will give this album a 5.
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