Ulcerate at Myspace

Ulcerate hails from New Zealand, and have sent out an awesome slab of death metal that balances both technical and brutal aspects incredibly well; “Everything is Fire” truly combines the best of both worlds while not sacrificing songwriting at the altars of either subgenre. All eight of its songs are over five minutes, but none feel overlong Instead of relying on blast beats or just showing off how fast they can play, Ulcerate were smart enough to include some slightly slower and quieter (but still brutal) sections. These do a great job of making sure the record doesn’t bog down in monotony like some other tech-death bands (Origin, anyone?)

The vocals aren’t bad at all, but they’re not quite as good as the instrumental backing, as they tend to sound a bit samey after a while, with a bit too much yelling and not enough guttural growling. I also didn’t like the fact that the guitars drowned out the bass and (to a lesser extent) the drums most of the time, but I don’t really have any other complaints. This is an essential death metal release and one of the best of 2009 to date.

Mutilated @ MySpace

It’s been quite a while since my last review, and I thought I’d give this whole writing business another try.  This time I have a classic brutal death metal album from my homestate of Michigan that came out in ’03.  Who says that all reviews have to be done about new ones?  There’s actually quite a few good bands that hail from Lansing, Detroit and it’s surrounding areas, such as Intestinal Alien Reflux, Gutrot (R.I.P.), Saprogenic and Nocturnal Fear, just to name a few.  However, if I were told which Michigan-based death metal band I enjoyed the most, I would have to say Mutilated (R.I.P.) takes the cake, and I will thoroughly explain to you people as to why I love them so much.

I suppose I should start off with the meat of “Devirginated Genital Pulp“, because there’s no other thing I could ever open with, and the meat would have to be the insanely groovy and thick riffs that are laid throughout this album, and after the short intro to “Hollowed Out Cunt“, you should know by now exactly what you’re getting into.  The way I look at the guitar work on this album is exactly what Cannibal Corpse would be in an alternate universe had the Chris Barnes-era never ended.  I really don’t want to call this album classic Cannibal Corpse worship, because it definitely has an identity of its own, but you could easily swap out a few songs on “The Bleeding” and replace them with “Impetuous Bloodshed“, “Axe Versus Throat“, and “Lactating Blood” and you would never know the difference.  However, I will say that “To Fuck The Rotted” is certainly Mutilated‘s “Hammer Smashed Face“.

One of the members that really drew me to this band in the first place would have to be Brian Forgue (vocalist) of the insanely awesome and brutal Gutrot, because his vocals in that band are quite frankly some of the best gutturals I’ve ever heard, and when I saw he had something to do with Mutilated, I figured I would get the exact same treatment.  While he does show off his gutturals every once in a while, it seems that Brian has reverted to doing regular death metal growls that emulates Chris Barnes’ old style pretty well.  As decent as he is at the generic growls they can actually get quite monotonous rather quickly and I would much rather hear his sick croaking.  However, Brian has fantastic timing with his vocals, knowing exactly when to shut his mouth to let the riffs and drums just pummel you, and while in a somewhat predictable-yet-still-awesome fashion, he comes back in to finish you off.  I guess if I wanted to hear nothing but his gutturals then just stick with Gutrot or Syphilic.

The only thing that really bothers me about this album is both the lack in creativity when it comes to the Zach Gibson’s drumming  and barely being able to hear Qyet Kevin’s bass.  The problem with Zach is exactly the problem that Paul Mazurkiewicz; there is no creativity on their part other than just jamming with what is given to them by the guitarists.  Seriously, Zach has done some interesting things in Gutrot, so why can’t he inject some of those ideas into Mutilated?  Both bands aren’t that different fundamentally, so the same approach should be able to work in theory.  As far as not being able to hear Qyet’s bass, I know the guy isn’t any Alex Webster, and I respect that, but Jesus Christ, why the fuck do bands think putting the bass so low in the mix is a good idea?  It’s a fantastic instrument, and when utilized correctly, it can enhance the music to an entirely different degree.  Those are my only real gripes about this album, so they are quite minor to how good everything else is.

In the end, “Devirginiated Genital Pulp” is exactly what any brutal death metal fan should be looking for; especially those of you who can’t get enough of Chris Barnes’-era Cannibal Corpse.  These guys manage to take the best elements of their former days and multiply them ten fold, and what we get here are some really catchy and groovy brutal death metal.  When the local music scene is being populated with shitty deathcore acts and moptop metalcore/screamo girly-boys, I really wish that Mutilated would come back and destroy those worthless fucks with the main-riff of “Hollowed Out Cunt“. Seriously, this is how brutal death metal should be played, and all those other younger bands can really learn something from Mutilated, and you can too.

Kalisia at Myspace

Despite the fact that the French progressive death metal band Kalisia was founded in 1994, Cybion, released earlier this year, is their debut. With choral vocals and the heavy use of keyboards, I felt that this album is best looked at from the perspective of progressive metal than death metal. When I want to hear death metal, I want something sickening and I want something brutal; this doesn’t deliver on either count, despite the frequent use of harsh vocals. It’s just too melodic to be a really great example of death metal.

Cybion is considerably better as a progressive metal album, but it still has its flaws. It’s supposed to be some sort of sci-fi concept album, but I never really understood it (the fact that many of the vocals are growled didn’t help). It also seems more than a little derivative of Ayreon, what with the multiple singers, squelchy synthesizers and Arjen Anthony-Lucassen himself appearing on one track. It’s messy and overlong, but there are lots of interesting musical passages so it evens out fairly well in the end. I can’t recommend Cybion to death metal fanatics, but prog metal fans should like it. I think it’s decent for a first effort, but I’ll probably never listen to it again.

Heaps of Dead at Myspace

This is the debut release from Heaps of Dead, an Ontario-based quintet that plays brutal death metal. “Deceased, Dismembered, and Left to Decay” starts off fairly well; the first few tracks are fairly simplistic, but they’re effective despite their simplicity. They reminded me a bit of early Six Feet Under (I know they’re a controversial band, but I enjoyed their first few albums a lot.) The singer does a pretty good job with both high-pitched screaming and death growls. I got the impression that Heaps of Dead was a young band that needed improvement, but had lots of potential.

Unfortunately, starting on track four, a new vocal style rears its ugly head- horrible “BREEE!” pig-squealing. I don’t know what possessed them to incorporate this  awful style, but it just doesn’t work one bit, and should have been left out entirely. These vocals rarely take center stage, but they’re horrible enough that they ruin the tracks where they’re used, and completely ruin what could have been a decent album. Aside from that, I really liked the use of samples from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. If the singer quits the horrible pig-squealing/toad-croaking vocals, Heaps of Dead could be a band to watch in the future. If he keeps using them, though, not even wild horses could get me to listen to this band again.

Cannibal Corpse at Myspace

Cannibal Corpse’s latest is pretty typical of the Corpsegrinder era. It certainly starts off well, with the insanely brutal “Priests of Sodom” and “Scalding Hail,” but some of the other numbers are unmemorable. “To Decompose” starts out strong, but the rest of the song feels awfully like they were phoning it in, a feeling I get from some other tracks on this album. Other strong tracks include “Evidence in the Furnace,” “Carnivorous Swarm” (which has a great intro and solo which evoke the titular horde), and the title track, which manages to convey CC’s trademark sense of hatred without being especially fast.

I don’t think the band’s albums with Corpsegrinder are terrible or anything, it’s just that they’re not as consistent as the Barnes albums (particularly the first three). If I listed my favorite Cannibal Corpse songs, there would be plenty from the later albums, but more recent albums just have more throwaway tracks, and Evisceration Plague is no exception. I do prefer the rougher production that the disappeared after “Tomb of the Mutilated”; producer Erik Rutan makes things sound just a bit too clear, although it’s not like this is the first CC album where that’s the case. As usual, Alex Webster’s bass is buried in the mix, which is a shame since he was so good with Blotted Science’s “The Machinations of Dementia.” Fans of the band will enjoy it, but newcomers should start with one of the Barnes-era albums.