Good ol' American slam death is back, and it's actually blastier than ever with the coming of this new album by fledgling Indiana-based 4-piece Visceral Throne. This band writes modular, compact and tightly played songs which really run the gamut from technical death metal to intense chugging slam, even throwing in a few melodic references at times. Right from the beginning of the album, I'm assaulted by a wash-fade-in that leads to a killer semi-melodic riff with spastic and mindfucking drumming. A half-slam becomes a blast riff and dissolves back into a chugging fury, the band plays around the edges of structure with several repeating riff ideas all referencing something of a core concept in each track. The snare is pingy and bright, which I really like (if you read the last review Logan and I wrote about Chordotomy, you'd know that it's my belief that more slam should have loud, colorful snare that highlights slams), but there are times when it can be overbearing, especially during blasts. 11-note slams punctuate "The Amaranthine" with brutal precision, and the way they tease you with groove is addicting because they regularly discard amazing sections only to lead into even more complex and satisfying deviations. The last half minute even has a funeral slam (god, I'm glad bands are doing this a lot more; it is amazing).There are parts of this that have this really bizarre, dark and twisted atmosphere, which reminds me a bit of the latest Condemned album, though this is much more all-over-the-place (though it's not like that album was simplistic at all; far from it). This has a far brighter mixing job than that album, but it's still got the same staggering, barely-held-together qualities to it that make this kind of stuff so appealing. Cleverly placed slams are really abundant here, though they tend to be a bit basic in composition. The band seems to spend more time thinking about how to destroy your idea of songwriting than actually writing big slams, but I'm not really of the mind to care about that when all of the individual parts of songs are so massive and skull-beating as they are here. Take about 2:20 of the title track for example; holy hell that's insane. Completely intense yet laid-back drumming (reminds me a lot of Psycroptic at times, actually) underpinning a killer sharp riff. Traditional noodly lead section aside (alright, time to admit it: these actually get on my nerves at this point; write more really epic solos like the one in "Epitaph"!) this song is full of amazing things happening with barely enough time to digest all of them. That means it's absolutely, 100% certifiably awesome to listen to on repeat. You'll be discovering things you didn't even come close to hearing during that first listen; things that make you repeat the last track just to headbang to them, dissect them and worship them, finding out much later that that part was what's been stuck replaying in your head all day (top albums for this kind of thing for me include Bodysnatch - Insights of a Rotten Theatre and Cephalic Impurity - Unique Brute Revival, for the record).
"Transcending Carnality" has this big Meshuggah influenced part with a solo that actually sounds a little bit like something Thordendal would pen, which is kind of a great homage. Very staccato rhythmic section with a beep-y guitar solo over the top, quite cool. The second solo in the song is actually much more epic, perhaps like something Decrepit Birth would write on their last album, Polarity. Another great thing about this album would be its length; it's short (a few minutes shy of a half-hour) and doesn't get exhausting to listen to. One of the hardest things to do in slam death (or brutal death in general, really) is to write appropriately-long albums; a lot of albums either overextend themselves into tired blasturbation and/or focus on way-too-distended slams that start to lose context after a while. Very few bands can do longer slam albums, and there are some who have written albums that are too short (fucking Wormed). This is a nice length, honestly, especially given the blindingly complex nature of the material. "Conceptual Metamorphosis" has the longest straight slow section on the album from what I recall, and even then it doesn't feel too bad because it erupts into a very quick and clever (due to use of stereo panning) next song.
It seems the US breeds a lot of bands sort of like this, to be honest. There are lots of Californian bands who basically spit out extreme-tech-death with nothing to hold on to, no big meaty riffs, no love for the slams. This is sort of a "fuck you" to that idea. If you like dissonant, chuggy brutal death metal that doesn't ever descend into self-indulgent wankery, instead preferring to blast the ever-loving shit out of everything in its vicinity, this is certainly the album for you. Oh, and it's up for pre-order here. Do so now, for the love of the game, and for the love of awesome bands like this. Let us slam together once again, in brutal and destructive perfection.
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2 comments:
well written, listened to the promo and it sounds spot on with my hopes for the full length
Great review. Pretty much echoes much of what I think about the album and more. It's fantastic for a myriad of good reasons. This particular formula (which is really a disservice to call it, though) is excellent. The combination of what they include and don't include makes it what it is along with stellar creativity and complexity, while holding true to the things I want to hear most in an album of this type. It's worth listening to repeatedly and doesn't get tired. Great stuff and I hope they hold the shape of this album in future releases. Don't 'evolve' into something 'better' because you can. Stay true to what you love and I think that's exactly what we get here.
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