death metal / doom metal
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Some of my all-time favorite death metal songs include 'Find The Arise' (Obituary), 'Evolved As One' (Napalm Death) and 'Out Of Hand' (Entombed). Especially with the Napalm Death song I have some sort of strange connection. It didn't fully get me into death metal but it guided my attention to another extreme, the slow version. Yes, I became a doom metal fan. I listened to all of them, from Black Sabbath or Ahab over My Dying Bride or Saturnus to Conan and Esoteric. I actually still do listen to most of them. The genre is (dûh) mainly known for its slow tempo and often downtuned guitars.
But what if I told you there was a band that has been trying to speed up the tempo and still claim to be a doom metal band with crushing guitars and brutal vocals? Well, you'd probably say that it's a death metal band after all. And you could actually be right but then there's the riffs. Typical doom metal riffs. Well then, you can say it's a sludge band and once again you're right. Yet, so am I, this still is doom.
So let's just stop trying to classify this debut and let's check what this quartet from York, Pennsylvania (USA) has to offer.
A first surprise comes from the intro and returns on 'Mouth Full Of Shit'. Bittered has been watching the Zeitgeist movies or Netwerk series (amongst other interesting features) and use some very interesting samples in their music. 'Places You Never Dreamed Of', the intro, is a great piece of dark industrial ambient which features samples from a Charles Manson interview. After that, they immediately blast out their message in the crushing 'America Is Killing You'.
'America Is Killing You' reminds me of Obituary, mainly in the vocals. Throughout the entire album this frightening mix between grunts and blackened screams spews out his apocalyptic visions about present-day society. The tempo is quite slow, also in followed 'Anger and Guild' but that doesn't mean it's not varied. In fact, it often alternates between down and mid tempo, making it perfect material for a session of headbanging-yoga.
Someone should invent headbanging-yoga.
On 'Poisoned Earth' Bittered invented a strange blend between blues and black metal, at least for a little while before the distortion and death riffs come in. Here the great sound of the drums suddenly grab my attention. This is the sound I love when I see bands perform live. It's usually different from studio drums, maybe colder, harder and definitely more threathening.
'Mouth Full Of Shit' is about the misguiding of religion, especially since it opens with the quote 'The Greatest Bullshit Story Ever Told'. Once again it's a punishing song where both guitars and drums hammer on your skull until you finally understand the message. Best thing you can do, is bang your head until you pass out or listen to what Bittered is trying to say.
It's the fucking truth.
The album continues to be a fierce steamroller of old school death metal induced doom with some more grinding guitars on 'Push It Down' and on the grand finale 'Consumed By Garbage'. It's been a while since I've heard a band go back into death metal history this far and it pleases me to see that the genre still has some very interesting spurs. This keeps things fresh and enjoyable.
So take it from me, we're dealing with something special here, maybe something risky and dangerous but something extremely stunning nonetheless. I think every death, doom and sludge fan can appreciate this and by extension probably even some depressive black metal fans as well, mainly because the bleak and threathening atmosphere.
Serge
But what if I told you there was a band that has been trying to speed up the tempo and still claim to be a doom metal band with crushing guitars and brutal vocals? Well, you'd probably say that it's a death metal band after all. And you could actually be right but then there's the riffs. Typical doom metal riffs. Well then, you can say it's a sludge band and once again you're right. Yet, so am I, this still is doom.
So let's just stop trying to classify this debut and let's check what this quartet from York, Pennsylvania (USA) has to offer.
A first surprise comes from the intro and returns on 'Mouth Full Of Shit'. Bittered has been watching the Zeitgeist movies or Netwerk series (amongst other interesting features) and use some very interesting samples in their music. 'Places You Never Dreamed Of', the intro, is a great piece of dark industrial ambient which features samples from a Charles Manson interview. After that, they immediately blast out their message in the crushing 'America Is Killing You'.
'America Is Killing You' reminds me of Obituary, mainly in the vocals. Throughout the entire album this frightening mix between grunts and blackened screams spews out his apocalyptic visions about present-day society. The tempo is quite slow, also in followed 'Anger and Guild' but that doesn't mean it's not varied. In fact, it often alternates between down and mid tempo, making it perfect material for a session of headbanging-yoga.
Someone should invent headbanging-yoga.
On 'Poisoned Earth' Bittered invented a strange blend between blues and black metal, at least for a little while before the distortion and death riffs come in. Here the great sound of the drums suddenly grab my attention. This is the sound I love when I see bands perform live. It's usually different from studio drums, maybe colder, harder and definitely more threathening.
'Mouth Full Of Shit' is about the misguiding of religion, especially since it opens with the quote 'The Greatest Bullshit Story Ever Told'. Once again it's a punishing song where both guitars and drums hammer on your skull until you finally understand the message. Best thing you can do, is bang your head until you pass out or listen to what Bittered is trying to say.
It's the fucking truth.
The album continues to be a fierce steamroller of old school death metal induced doom with some more grinding guitars on 'Push It Down' and on the grand finale 'Consumed By Garbage'. It's been a while since I've heard a band go back into death metal history this far and it pleases me to see that the genre still has some very interesting spurs. This keeps things fresh and enjoyable.
So take it from me, we're dealing with something special here, maybe something risky and dangerous but something extremely stunning nonetheless. I think every death, doom and sludge fan can appreciate this and by extension probably even some depressive black metal fans as well, mainly because the bleak and threathening atmosphere.
Serge
