Internal Bleeding : "Settle All Scores"

 I should review this album today since the band's drummer, Bill Toley, was killed when the Trade Towers went down in what some call the 9/11 Attacks. I think the 9/11 incident is more fitting. I would say it's a shame Toley had to die, but everyone dies, and death metal should be a celebration of death. Hopefully, his death has been an inspiration for this band ever since. For this band to have been around since the 90s, I would say they are inspired and were ahead of their time.  Kids now call this Slam, but it's really just hardcore-influenced death metal. I think it's fair to say these guys are also big fans of Cannibal Corpse. After all, Cannibal Corpse, formed in Buffalo, three years before these guys.

The first three songs found me really digging the crushing breakdown-like grooves I was being hit with. By the time I got to "Forced Compliance," I was ready for some new sounds, and they hit me with marginally different syncopation. This is the first album to feature Sacrafical Slaughter vocalist Steve Worley, who sports a very commanding grunt and gurgle. His lyrics are growled in such a manner that, despite their brutality, you can still make them out. This song also shifts into a more traditonal metal riff that was enough dynamics to make me happy. 

The vocals are also well phrased, accenting the guitar in a purposeful manner that gives "Crown of Insignificance' its hook. The syncopated call and response between the hard-core vocal and the growled vocal work well here, too. "Empire of Terror" is still effective, and perhaps it might need to grow on me, or my ears have grown numb, but it does hook me as hard as the first five songs. But when there are only eight songs and the first five smacked you pretty hard, it's a good sign. It should be noted that three of their former growlers also lend their voices to this album in guest spots, which is cool. Jay Lowe is on "Glorify the Oppressor". The other two are on the last song. It starts off with a slower, more dramatic intro that is a welcome change.  It turns into a pretty crushing affair, though it does not feel as hooky as the first half of the album. I will give this one a 9.5, one of the year's best death metal releases. Drops October 17th. 

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