Human Excoriation - Virulent Infestation - 2007 Crematorium Records

I was originally only going to check this out because it has a cover of Pyaemia's "Sugar Spiced Anus" which, let's face it, is both an awesome song title AND an awesome song (by an overlooked band). When I finally ended up listening to this, I was hugely impressed. Big, thick production complementing the fast and slow switch-ups and meaty slam riffs pounding your brain into submission. A great up-front but not overpowering drum performance also drives this record forward, with accurate and tasteful use of cymbals and oddly heavy tom fills. Catchy mini-breakdowns occur such as in the second song "Inexorable Defilement" and showcase the band's adaptability to a variety of nice styles. The band claims to work in a hybrid TXDM/Japanese style, and I can totally hear it...combining influences that are obvious like Disconformity and Ingurgitate with some more obscure ones such as the Japanese Glossectomy and even Abuse (blast from the fucking past!), I could tell I was in for an album of guys who KNOW what they want to do, doing it, and doing it better than a ton of posers.

So, basically, what I ended up with was a slam album I could enjoy due to a great cover, and, goddamnit, a slam album I could enjoy ANY TIME! At just under a half-hour, the band churns out a group of ten memorable and sick songs without relenting one bit. The cover nails the first riff really well, also, and that is definitely a GOOD thing, considering it is one of the best riffs Pyaemia ever wrote (if not THE best riff, or even THE riff to end all riffs, rendering the rest obsolete). This band picks up the BPM on the song a tiny, tiny bit, ever so slightly changing it with a better vocal production. Only drawback is that the drumming is a little louder than I'd like it to be in this case. However, on every other song it is great sounding and well-played.

Also, maybe I'm the only one, but I love it when a band teases you with a super fucking good riff or breakdown and then destroys it in a weird rush of time changes or something, only to COME BACK with it...what am I getting at? The very beginning of one of the highlights here, "Murdered By Decree", which begins with a nice little vocal and drum part before going into a really catchy groove, which gets promptly stomped on by a drum fill, and re-enters the arena BETTER than it sounded before. So good. Subtle things like that make albums for me. Or break 'em. But this was meant to be killing people to, NOT broken. A band to watch out for...with a debut like this, who needs sophomore albums?!