We Have Returned... + review of Anal Stabwound - The Visceral Sovereign (2021; Inherited Suffering Records)

 taps mic

Hey, is this thing on? Does Blogger still exist..? Now, wait just a second... I remember, back in my day, this used to be called Blogspot, Blogger. 🙄 Christ. Anyway, where do I even start? It's no secret that Slam-Minded has been on a really long hiatus. Life has been crazy, of course, given the global pandemic and just the general state of the world (gestures broadly at everything), but it seems like the tides have turned in the world of brutal death metal, and we've been getting a lot of really high-quality releases recently. Maybe all of these perverted psychopaths that comprise the slam bands of the world have just felt cooped-up and unable to properly express their sadistic rage throughout quarantine or something, but all I know is that releases from bands such as Ecchymosis, Decortication, Putrescent Seepage, and more have really blown me away over the past few months, and I haven't been as excited for the present and potential near-future of slam since the good ol' days, so that there is my reason to declare slam class back in session.

Grab your pencils, and prepare to take notes on the first topic in about five years...

Anal. Stabwound.

Yeah, really dumb name, and trust me, I get that. However, the name is absolutely the only not-mindblowing thing about this, a recently-formed project by a 15-year-old slam prodigy by the name of Nikhil Talwalkar. I have no idea how he does it; for all I know, he's a laboratory experiment that has taken the form of a small, long-haired, seemingly-emotionless teenager from Connecticut who performs solo covers of relatively-obscure slam tracks in a gorgeous loft studio at his house. I'm sure his parents are fans of the music, because I just can't imagine him getting all of the gear he has without their permission or knowledge, and I especially can't picture him shouting "alright, mom, I'll be down for dinner in five minutes, just let me finish my cover of 'Intravenous Semen Rehydration'!"

Anyway, I'm already getting off-topic, so let's shift our focus back. This kid is basically a genius, and it's fitting that we begin Slam-Minded once again with renewed vigor by diving into what could potentially become a future classic in our favored genre of sociopathic, ugly music.

The Visceral Sovereign is a lengthy and extremely-ambitious debut album that just dropped recently on Inherited Suffering Records (maybe you've heard of 'em before; y'know, the label that put out Ezophagothomia's debut... that one) and it is, put simply, one of the finest slabs of brutality that I have heard in a long time, written and performed by a single teenager, with a calculated finesse and a rather-intense focus and weightiness to it, while still deviating from some known formulas in intriguing ways, lending the album some devious memorability and surprising catchiness, perhaps sometimes in spite of its long running-time.

The album begins with a ringing, overture-like chord that immediately reminded me of something Condemned might have done in the days of Realms of the Ungodly, though it quickly becomes a blast-fest of epic proportions with chunky riffs and intense gutturals mingling with a surprisingly-sinister atmosphere that brings to mind Disentomb and the aforementioned Ezophagothomia with a blasting technique that is almost Putridity-like. Now, those are some great bands to be compared to right off the bat, and this wastes no time slamming everything in its wake. 1:40 into the very first track, "Spewed Forth From Ash," contains a disgusting slow slam that sets the tone for the next 53 minutes, which you're undoubtedly going to spend slavishly-headbanging to this absolutely killer release.

The scooped intro riff that starts the second track gave me "slamcore" vibes at first, which was a bit unnerving, but my fears were quickly allayed by a dexterous string-skipping section punctuated by lightspeed blasts and appropriately-placed pinch harmonics, somewhat like a combination of older Pathology and Putridity. The tasty, flavorful ride punctuations used in the drumming on this track (titled "Embryonic Encephalopathy;" brutal) are quite a bit more high-brow than you'd ever expect from a kid this age. In fact, pretty much all of this is superbly and tastefully-executed with a wildly-diverse scope of influences that really runs the gamut from atmospheric, darker undertones to the kind of jaw-droppingly technical and off-the-wall concepts Lille of Defeated Sanity fame utilizes quite a bit, especially in terms of drumming style/fills.

"Kingdom of Filth" is probably the least-good song here, as it feels a bit generic by comparison with some of the other stuff on order here, but we haven't even gotten to the part of the album that stacks three songs with run-times of 7+ minutes each almost right on top of one another. Seriously, it's pretty nuts, but we'll get to it soon. The slams in this track are kinda meat-and-potatoes, and the blasting deviations feel rather rote when looked at in a vacuum, but I can see this track operating as kind of a "microcosm" of the album in a sense, sort of showing off a taste of what this kid can do within the span of five or so minutes. There is a nice, slow, churning slam a little more than halfway through that opens back up into a weirdly epic moment featuring triumphant melodies, so maybe I'm being a little hard on it, after all. I'm rusty at this, and you're just going to have to deal with that. Sorry, not sorry.

The next couple tracks are excellent, functioning as an early "mid-point" of the album that shows a swing into a higher gear that has it developing into a more direct and cohesive whole with some disturbing and grotesque deviations along the way. The lurching slam at about 3:14 into "Endoparasitic Abomination" is a highlight of that track, showing off some sick rhythmic interplay that feels unique but still concretely "slam" in execution.

Track 5, "Fetal Feast," is of note as it is the first song on the album with a guest vocal feature. Now, this feature is probably the least exciting of the four that are on here, as I have no idea who the kid doing the vocals is (apparently his name is Jeron and he's the sole member of a project called Backyard Cannibalism that is very likely not as good as this) or what parts are actually him and what parts are Nikhil, but it is a feature nonetheless. Going forward in the album, as we reach the part where things get truly bonkers, there are three more features: the mighty Ángel Ochoa (ex-Condemned, Cephalotripsy) on track 7, the prolific Larry Wang (Coprocephalic, Gorepot, etc.) on track 9, and that other guy Jonathan Huber (ex-Pathology, ex-I Declare War) on track 10. The title track is where things start getting amazing, so we're not even close to done yet.

At a length of 7:26, and with an opening like that (fucking sinister and foreboding as hell!), "The Visceral Sovereign" barrels forth with a set of subtly-epic riffs and a slower, more carefully-developing pace that remains subdued despite the speed of the blasts placed throughout. A darkly-melodic solo pops out just after the 2-minute mark, followed by some off-time, syncopated chunky riffs and dexterous blasts/fills. Also of note here is a section at 2:56 that seems like an homage to Defeated Sanity's "The Purging" (around 3:44 in that track), and you have no idea how much I literally just agonized over trying to remember exactly what "weird jazzy DS moment" that reminded me of. Anyway, this track just keeps fucking going and somehow never gets boring or stagnant, and even has some curveball change-ups in the form of dissonant chords that lend a harrowing atmosphere to the proceedings.

Ángel's feature in "Demiurge of Abhorrence" is disgusting, as expected, and the track itself is utterly fucking nuts right from the very beginning... case-in-point: what the absolute shit is happening at 21 seconds in? That riff/section would be absolutely-bonkers and insane for any band, never mind the fact that this is composed entirely by a literal child who can't even legally drive a car yet. It's so surreal to hear this and understand that, and I feel like I'm constantly flabbergasted by the quality of the composition and performance here. The very first few moments of "Disjunct Savagery" sound like a very Defeated Sanity inspired segment as well, and there are some slams here and there that really bring to mind stuff like Abnormity or Abominable Putridity in how fun yet caveman-like they are in their brutal simplicity.

Up next is the longest track, a monstrous 8-and-a-half-minute beast, awesomely-titled "Temporal Dissection" (cool/semi-nonsensical two-word song names are a weakness of mine, I admit). This track has some supreme Guttural Secrete vibes, specifically in its bringing together of a certain savage primality and a precision-laced assault of understated melodic elements in the service of an unnerving atmosphere. And, let's be honest, it's hard not to think of GS when considering slam/BDM tracks with disturbing qualities and longer run-times (recall "Clotting the Vacant Stare" off Nourishing the Spoil, if you would). Just about exactly halfway through this track a moment of calm arises, centered around an otherwise-empty, chorus-laden bass section that eventually coalesces into a furious hyper-blast surrounded by insistent slams. As it slows down again, Larry Wang's reverberating squeals and gutturals make themselves known among the deconstruction and subsequent rebuilding of intense heaviness as the track reaches finality by bringing back a surprisingly-melodic and epic riff from about 5 minutes prior. Now that's songwriting! Did I mention this dude is a fucking prodigy?!

The final track lays on the Disentomb-esque apocalyptic sensibilities pretty thick immediately, featuring some unusual and satisfying dissonance just like that band is known for, though the slams that come next are super-thick and thuggish which isn't something the referenced band is well-known for. This is a really good choice for an album closer, as it really focuses on density in composition... I mean, there's even another pretty good (albeit brief) solo that comes out of absolutely nowhere. The tempo-shifting/tempo-modulated slams at around the 3 minute mark are a highlight here for sure, and the genius of utilizing an element like that just a couple minutes after a more-straightforward/typical 8-noter is absolutely 100% not lost on me. 4:22 gives me extreme Organectomy vibes in how lurching and atypical (yet at the same time extremely-catchy) the particular slam construction is, and the last minute features some disgusting descending slams with triplet double-kick flair just because, y'know, Nikhil's just flexing on everyone, no big deal, whatever. This is just crazy good and, y'know what? It is one of the extreme few examples of an album of this type going absolutely hard-as-fuck for over 50 minutes without losing steam or ever getting uninteresting for longer than thirty-seconds at a time. He knows how to write this type of music, and it doesn't ever sound forced or lazy. It's super natural sounding and that is important to me. As a long-time supporter of this scene, and as someone with a very keen ear for what is and isn't phoned-in, tacky, and/or unnecessary in this specific type of music, I can with certainty say that this kid is going places. He's more talented than most other people playing brutal death metal of any type, and I can't wait to see what he does next. For one Nikhil Talwalkar, the only thing to do is to ascend into the highest echelons of slamminess, and I hope I have convinced you, faithful Slam-Minded reader, to follow his journey as well.

Below are links to his YouTube channel, as well as a link to Inherited Suffering's Bandcamp page so you can throw your hard-earned cash at this young man and the label that has placed its trust in him. 2021 seems like it will be a great year, as (in mine and Logan's opinion, anyway) slam seems to be undergoing a much-needed renaissance, and therefore I'm excited to say that it's both extremely weird and superbly-gratifying to be able to declare Slam-Minded existent once again! Hopefully now we can try to not have five year gaps between posts; fingers crossed, eh?

Until next time...

Stay fucking brutal and sick, fellow brutal death metal devotees...

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Relevant Links:

Anal Stabwound - The Visceral Sovereign (official direct Bandcamp link)

Nikhil T (official YouTube channel)

Inherited Suffering Records (official website)

Injury Deepen - Anthropophagous Realm (2016; New Standard Elite)

Injury Deepen are not a new band, but I'm not personally familiar with their 2012 debut or their earlier demo material. The music on Anthropophagous Realm, their 2016 release on New Standard Elite, is seemingly a combination of influences with a rather wide range for brutal death metal, all filtered and directed into a 26-minute assault.

The first track blasts off with aplomb, reminding me instantly of some of the more well-known BDM that came out of Europe around the turn of the century/millennium. The blasting technique and chunky, semi-blurred riffs remind me of Disavowed and Pyaemia, for instance, but I also pick up some Severe Torture-like twists and turns here. Disgorge is a definite reference point as well, as this brings to mind the raw, straightforward brutality and Matti Way vocal attack of She Lay Gutted decently often in my mind. Riffs generally feel bouncy and well-constructed, with obvious melodic moments eschewed in favor of rhythmic interplay with the drum patterns. This is a bit of a weird album because it sounds next-to-nothing like most stuff coming out of Indonesia. I was confused upon first listen because, hey, it's not very much like Jasad at all! All joking aside, that's a great thing here, and it's a breath of fresh air to hear something coming out these days that reminds me of the "old" 2000s BDM scene where there wasn't even a hard-and-fast divide between slam and BDM as there tends to be these days. Production is generally pretty solid, highlighting the obscene low-end rumble of the bass (which is even well-played at times; always nice to hear in stuff like this) and serving to highlight the hefty guitar tone. The drumming is serviceable and definitely to-style, but there are times where I feel it could sound a bit better or be more compositionally-interesting. Overall, though, those parts are few and far between and the rhythm section is pretty damn good and appropriately brutal-sounding.

There are a few really good "semi-melodic" sections with epic, marching rhythms that remind me a bit of mid-era Deeds of Flesh, as well. One of these features on the excellently-titled "Throne of Mangled Flesh," in which it actually acts as a kind of mini-chorus. That brings me to something else of note here: songwriting. Songwriting is one of the most make-it-or-break-it parts of brutal death metal, at least to me. You can have tons of slams and blast at 250+ BPM or whatever, but if there isn't a good groundwork, it's all kind of worthless in the end. Luckily, the boys in Injury Deepen understand this and often choose to focus on only several handpicked riffs per song, developing each to its logical conclusion and then switching things up in some way or another, whether that be transitioning from slow to fast tempo or throwing in a fill that leads to a continuation that flows well. One of the best moments on the album for this occurs right in the middle of the album, during "Intimate Dissection Ritual." A groovy chug riff drives right into a faster blasty/overly-complicated riff somewhat like something off the newest Disentomb before just absolutely bombing right into one of the best slams I've heard in recent memory. This breakdown even features some interesting basswork (though you have to pay attention as it's subtle) and pretty much continues until the end of the song. It's just absolutely massive and made even more destructive by the relative lack of big "slammy" breakdowns on the album.

Another one of my favorite things about this album would be the amazing attention paid to vocal phrasing. This guy might have a somewhat "generic" voice, but the way he fits himself into these snaking rhythms is usually pretty genius (just listen to the way the first song erupts: dude knows what he's doing). It's one of the few modern brutal death albums that I could see myself learning the lyrics to just to growl along with the album. It's really satisfying to me when this guy belts out rapid-fire verses, for some reason.

Overall, this is a really good brutal death metal album that sounds very much not like something from 2016. That isn't a bad thing at all, however, and this will definitely rekindle your lust for older-school BDM. The combination of chunky, riff-based writing and the album's short length assure that you'll get a lot of spins out of Anthropophagous Realm. Time to dust off your old CDs by bands from the 2000s Unique Leader and Unmatched Brutality rosters; Injury Deepen's about to show you that they can jam just like you remembered those albums do!

Mortal Decay - The Blueprint for Blood Spatter (2014; Comatose Music)

“Could this head belong to a young adult female…”

Oh Mortal Decay, we have such a love / hate relationship.  Sickening Erotic Fanaticism is one of my favourite records from the 90’s, mixing great death metal riffage with some incredibly heavy breakdowns similar to Suffocation,  all the while keeping things fresh and fun. It was, and still is a great listen, I’d even go as far to call it an underrated classic. But after that, things went downhill fast with Forensic and Cadaver Art, which while competent albums, really did nothing for me in the long run. I had given up on them like so many other acts I’d once loved, and to be honest, I wasn’t too excited when I’d heard about their reunion.  I came into The Blueprint for Blood Spatter quite skeptical to say the least, I thought it would be mediocre at best.  Good god was I ever wrong.

The Blueprint for Blood Splatter is everything I could’ve ever wanted from Mortal Decay, and more, with quite a few surprises that one would not expect from the stereotypical Brutal Death Metal album.  As one would expect, all the Brutal Death Metal stereotypes are here, riff salads, blast beats, slow and punishing breakdowns / slams, and indecipherable vocals, but it’s all used in a fresh and varied way that keeps you interested the entire way through. A lot of thought and care has been put into the compositions here, and it shows.

Instrumentally, everything is on point here. John Hartman (Waking The Cadaver) and Joe Gordon handle guitar duties, and do a bang up job of it. They’ve kept the old school feel while adding in some newer influences (some passages sound like Nile and Decrepit Birth), and even add  in some black metal flavour that not many bands of their ilk would be brave enough to do. Take "Nocuous Compulsions" for example, the beginning riff sounds like something you would hear off an Endstille album, but with a little more crunch and groove added in for good effect. The break halfway in even sounds like something Nightbringer would do.

The low end is just as impressive. Anthony Ipri is impeccable on drums, with punishing blastbeats, fills, and lots of groove. There’s a lot more variety on the kit than one would expect, all the while not being overly flashy or pretentious. Monty Mukerji does a wonderful job on bass as well, and you can even hear the bass (!), which is a rarity in this style. It doesn’t seem like he’s just following what the guitarists do either, he adds his own little fills and what I can only assume are slaps, which adds a bouncy and fun nature to the songs that would otherwise not be there.

But what has to be the icing on the cake is Danny Nelson’s (of Malignancy fame) vocals. He is on top of his game here, utilizing a wide variety of vocal techniques, every one of them as ferocious as the last. "Mourning Euphoria" is a great example of this, with Danny jumping from some pretty impressive, and almost decipherable death growls, into some pretty wet and disgusting gutturals, and even adding in some highs that gave me goosebumps.  His vocal phrasing is impressive as well, with every line he utters fitting in and complimenting the accompanying music perfectly.

I must say I am ecstatic to hear Mortal Decay back with such ferocity, and I gladly admit that I was wrong to ever doubt them.  I implore all of you who are into acts like Suffocation, Devourment, and even older Cannibal Corpse, pick this up as soon as possible. And for the love of god, pick up their back catalogue and give it a thorough listen, you won’t be disappointed.

Down From The Wound - Violence And The Macabre (2014; Comatose Music)

Down From The Wound are finally back, bringing their early-Suffocation and Devourment influenced slam death to life once again. Returning to the style of their debut, Agony Through Rituals Of Self-Purification (1/8/14 note: I still have the shirt from when the debut was released 7 years ago... jeez, it's been a while, eh?) and seeking to improve upon it in almost every aspect, this was definitely a hotly-anticipated album of mine when it was first announced. The album opens up with a rolling slam assault featuring very creative drumming and a touch of old-school charm that really harkens back to some of the best slam riffs ever written here and there. Halfway through the first song, for instance, there's a full-stop change-up that leads to a completely new section, very much like in the classic "Postmortal Coprophagia" by the masters themselves. The vocal performance seems rather flat and unengaging compared to some other bands, but it's not bad and keeps time very well, alternating slightly between a dark, one-dimensional growl to a more guttural vociferation that does, every now and then, hit the spot intensely.

The structure of these songs is typically fantastically detailed, with lots of amusing flourishes and creative deviations from the tropes of slam, all the while still staying purely in bounds of the whole "third world slam" phenomenon that DFTW has always been squarely at the center of (at least to me and some others I know, anyhow... you know who you are!). The way riffs pile up and crash down with spastic aplomb while the tight yet similarly intense drumming spastically hurries to keep up is just intense and satisfying, and the production this time is particularly detailed towards bringing out the best of each member. "Hypocritical Repentance" has this insanely well built-up slam section that, after a measure, just kind of ceases... until you realize it's building up for an even bigger, more amazing slam. That kind of transition is something very few bands have ever attempted, let alone mastered, and this album has these kinds of things all over the place. Some really amusing chuggy grooves pop out here and there that don't quite really become (or have the capability to become) full-fledged slams, and the band rides on them for adequate periods before deciding to switch to a blasty or rolling section focused on a few new riffs. DFTW has always been really good at writing music, that much is certain, but each track feels much more distinct on this album than on the debut, and that's pretty high praise considering that "Agony..." is a fantastically-well-crafted album in its own right, combining technicality and grittiness into a slam masterpiece that I feel has always been kind of overlooked compared to the more well-produced stuff coming out of Russia, the Americas or Europe as a whole. Consequently, I've always considered the Filipino slam scene as kind of a cousin to Colombian/Sudamerican slam with its eye towards chaos at all times, yet firmly entrenched in a singular, devastating approach that can never and will never be compromised.

Once again, in a manner similar to the debut, DFTW has crafted a multitude of fairly-lengthy songs that all go through twists and turns before arriving at endings that are either extremely cathartic or that feel pent-up, ready to unleash the chaos and brutality in the next riff, the next slam, the next section. "Schematic Fraud" begins with a section much like the latter example, with the fury of the previous track wrapping up seemingly out of nowhere, collapsing into a controlled devastation of quick slams and semi-melodic riffs punctuated by amusing, upbeat snare flourishes before the song reaches its climactic, intense midpoint leading to a very powerful, tension-building slam at the end. "Beyond The Depths Of Epidemic Abortion" (what a title, guys) reminds me a bit of mid-to-later period Cenotaph in its spazziness and inability to stick with a time signature for more than four seconds throughout that first major section, but DFTW quickly regain control and develop a 9-note slam motif that becomes a 10-note slam with the addition of a threatening, predatory half-step making the proceedings all too carnivorous. The variance in drumming on this release is one of the major things keeping me coming back, honestly; the slams and general flow of the album are intensely great, but Randyl's detailed and multifaceted attention to his kit is commanding of a lot of attention on this album, catapulting it into the realm of some of the best feral, technical slam I've heard... ever. I'm sure Lille from Defeated Sanity is an influence on Randyl, and it shows in the slight cymbal pulls and snare highlights, where he chooses to switch from a blurred snare blast to a particularly clean, resonant, bright ping that punctuates sweet-spots in slams.

The title track is a devastating assault of evil tremolo and slam combinations that wear out the listener within the first thirty seconds; just as an attention-deficit slam makes an appearance before switching back to the Deeds of Flesh-like picking aspects and complex iterations of the main riff return drastically, ready to break your neck as the four-piece stumbles into several blasty sections before they break it all down again with a catchy slam punctuated by ride and china crashes. Then begins probably one of the most epic slams on this album; the kind of shit that just makes you stop what you're doing and worship the breakdown. Featuring a nine-noter into hanging chords before becoming a slightly-slower and more intense version, this is the crowning achievement so far; a centerpiece slam if there ever was one! The rest of the album features lots of ups and downs, but I'm just not into doing track-by-tracks anymore, so let it be said that this will easily be one of the best slam albums of 2014, and if anyone has a problem with that, they'll have to answer to me (and I defend my opinions very strongly). Listening to this reminds me of just starting this blog, as that was around when DFTW was really coming into their own.

It's insane to me that this was so long in the making; not because it doesn't seem like they improved in that time (faaaaar from that, actually... the chops, production and personality are way ahead of "Agony..." on this one), but because it reminds me of Slam-Minded's humble beginnings. My interview with Randyl was one of the first things I remember working with Nick on collaboratively. When we landed it, I felt like an honest-to-goodness superstar, and I couldn't have been more happy at that time. Lots of things have happened to bring me to where I am now, and I can tell that the songwriters of Down From The Wound have also been affected as profoundly by the years; they have emerged from that time period as frontrunners of technical yet raw slam death, dedicated unwaveringly and tirelessly to intense, complex and forward-thinking brutality on "Violence And The Macabre"; brutality that somehow never ceases to impress throughout its immensely long running time of approximately 50 minutes. The rabid and vicious switches between sections on this album just feel necessary and weighty; these are things some clinical "slam" will never achieve... a true feeling of predatory sickness with an aim specifically to deliver pure brutality and intensity to the listener, but not without meaning. On the contrary, every song here feels like it has a place in the whole, and, although several listens will probably be necessary to catch some of the more specific nuances, it is worth each and every one. A hearty round of applause to the reigning masters of Filipino slam death!

(As a side note, this album has one of those weird, semi-pointless, feedback-laden "interlude" things almost exactly like Putridity's "Wallowing In Aftermaths" from Degenerating Anthropological Euphoria. What the fuck are these? They're retarded and awesome. I need to come up with a name for this if it's gonna keep happening. Defeated Sanity even had some version of one at the end of "Verblendung" off their newest album, though that was even more bizarre. These should have a name and more bands should have them; I think this is a chance for one of the crazier tropes of slam to have a real pull... just sayin'... I mean, I did coin "funeral slam", after all, and that's gotta count for something...)

Cognitive - Cognitive (2014;Pathologically Explicit Recordings)

Well, here we are once again with some album reviews, that make's it one article a year? We've really got to get our shit together, haha.

That being said, Cognitive are a little known five-piece based out of New Jersey, USA. They play a slightly hardcore-tinged style of brutal technical death metal with obvious nods to the genres creators Suffocation, and even some to fellow New Jerseyites (Jerseyers? I have no idea), Waking The Cadaver. Expect some incredibly technical playing, massive grooves, crushing blastbeats, and surprisingly enunciated vocals.

The guitar playing, handled by Jake Iannaco and Rob Wharton is incredibly busy, while at the same time being tasteful, melodic, and oddly enough, progressive. From the guitar leads and solos on World's Beneath, to the atmospheric playing near the end of The Aftermath, their guitar playing encompasses everything one would want from this genre. The guitar tone also reminds me of newer Waking The Cadaver, although with more heft and clarity, which is a great thing.

The low end is quite impressive as well, being held down by Mike Castro on drums, and Art Sikora on bass. The drumming, while nothing that will make your jaw drop, accentuates the riffs perfectly, and never seems to be technical just for the sake of it. The bass player holds his own as well, and although I wish the production would allow him to be heard a little bit more, which is my only real nitpick, he does an admirable job.

The vocals could be the make it or break it thing for most people though, as Jorel Hart isn't the typical vocalist for this style. He's guttural while still enunciating quite well, but also jumps into some pseudo-hardcore style vocals. They may not be guttural enough for the average Brutal Death Metal / Slam fan, but at the same time they might be a bit too out there for the standard Death Metal fan. At the end of the day though, for me, I have come to greatly enjoy his vocal style.

I must say, I'm truly surprised these guys aren't blowing up. The songwriting chops employed on this record are stupendous, everything fits perfectly. The musicianship on here is as about as good as you'll find in the genre. And hell, their style easily crosses over from Tech Death, to Brutal Death, to Hardcore, and should appeal to fans of all three genres. This is a must buy for me.