One of the best parts about Colombian death metal is that it feels very natural. It is always thick and fuzzy production and all the bands have their own unique sound within the general framework of the scene. On Suppuration's first album Pain and Suffering this idea was taken almost too far. The production was raw to the point of being annoying and while there was a wealth of good musical ideas, they were not integrated into the deathgrind structure that Suppuration was going for.All of these problems were addressed it seems in the four years since Pain and Suffering's release with Suppuration's new album A River of Corpses. Whereas Pain and Suffering was a problematic album with potential A River of Corpses is a fully realized and fully enjoyable Colombian deathgrind album. The songs are fast and groovy and very catchy. There are the requisite gory samples and the requisite blasts and slams. The musicianship is pretty good as is the production which is a big step up from their previous album.
The faster parts of the album sounded very Colombian with pseudo-epic riffing in the style of Ancient Necropsy and Blaze Inside. The melodies seemed to slither throughout the songs giving making them very foreboding and evil sounding. A good example is on the song "Slut Decapitator" which starts with a couple cool and memorable melodies before descending into deathgrind grooves. The grooves and slams reminded more of TXDM than the band's fellow Colombians which worked well because the chugging style of the Texans contrasted nicely with the melodic parts. It's nice when deathgrind has cool melodic parts but it is absolutely essential that it has catchy grooves and Suppuration delivers.
It's also worth remarking on the vocals which are often a weak point on otherwise excellent Colombian death metal records (see Goretrade). The vocals on this album are actually quite good and Suppuration uses the contrast between low gutturals and high screams well.
I'm not sure if this album is quite good enough to make it onto our best of the year lists (coming soon!) but Suppuration have to be commended for making a very good record and improving so markedly from their last effort.
Also "Drugs, Sex, and Grindcore" is a great song title.
Posts
3 comments:
Amputated's 'Wading Through Rancid Offal' for best release of the year. Artery Eruption's 'Driving My Fist Through Her Chest' for most disappointing. Hey neither of these are on your blog, sup?!
We're working on it. There were a lot of great releases this year and we haven't gotten around to them all. We'll have some time off in the next couple weeks though so that's probably when more reviews will come out. I doubt we will review Artery Eruption though just because neither Andy or I are fans and it seems spiteful to review an album that we know we won't like.
Torturor, while I love Amputated, I can't agree with you. There were tons of other better releases this year. But we do agree in one thing: Artery Eruption sucks. Fuck, even WtC's debut is more enjoyable than that shit.
I'm in love with Suppuration's new album by the way.
Post a Comment