Of Feather and Bone : " Sulfuric Disintegration"

In the first minute of this album there is no question if this album is going to be heavy. Obviously If you heard their previous release then you already knew what you were in for. At this point we are three albums in where if you think of it compared to other bands' that would put them where Morbid Angel was in their career for "Covenant". Are we going to here that much growth? Doubtful though, this album benefits from better production value. The first song is blistering fast. Speed only gets you so far in my book. I prefer it more with thrash and black metal. When death metal doesn't have a groove the massive sound of it feels like it is tripping over it's own to feet. There is more Morbid Angel influence in the guitar this time around so that earns them more points than what I remember from the last album.  

The second song blasts along almost just like the first . The dive bomb solo is different, There are accents here and there that stand out, but nothing that makes me say. "That was a good song I want to listen to that again." Instead there are a bunch of riffs thrown at me with the intent of punishing my ears. I am a sadist not a masochist. The third song is no different than the second except for a riff here or there. The cool riffs alone does not a good song make rule here really hits bands like this hard. There is a little more to grab ontpo with "Consecrated and Consumed" but not by a huge margin since it fast so fast it is hard to focus on what is going on in order to form a real connection with the song. 

The last song does get more deliberate mid way into it. This is a little too late as they have just numbed my ears out by this never ending pounding that loses it's effectiveness. It ceases to be heavy as there is no contrast. How do you know loud if you do not know quiet?  I will round this one down to a 5.5. At first I appreciate the density, then I have to ask but can you write a fucking song, they just blast beat around the bush and never answer me. 

Of Feather and Bone :"Bestial Hymns of Perversion"

This death metal band out of  Colorado is true to the genre in that they pursue their craft with a single minded aggression. The low guttural growls falls in the Cannibal Corpse range. The guitars churn out a low frequency barrage.  This is what I want from death metal, but I have already gotten what I wanted from other bands . So after I finish being impressed by the sheer heaviness of this band I will begin to ask ...now what else can you do ? Who are you ? Where is your personality that separates you from the hundreds of other death metal bands that do this ? While they continue to hit with a ten ton hammer , they are unable to answer these questions. The lyrics are growled in such a way that they are no discernible. Even the catchier riffs could have been pulled from the death metal riff grave yard.

"Lust for Torment" just kind of happened without me realizing that we were on a different song. They go for the most low brow common denominator blasting on "Mockery of the Ascension" . The title track is even more straight forward blasting. While it's impressive these guys were about to maintain this kind of intensity, there is little in the way of dynamics. They certainly have a dense guitar sound that many bands of their ilk might envy. It is just this point in the album it's all running together. They close the album with "Throne of the Serpent". No new ground is uncovered here. The flow of double bass keeps coming.

It's generous for me to round this up to a 6, but they are good at what they do. The problem is what they do is not very original. So if you like death metal that is intense , but very average in terms if the dynamic spectrum than this will be a fine addition to your current hymnal of songs to get shitty drunk to. This album is getting a ton of buzz, but far from album of the year quality and it's hype is almost as heavy at it's metal. Released on Profound Lore.