5 piece death metal band from Wollongong, signed to Grindhead records in 2008 and look to have landed the Nile support coming up in Sydney Nov 15 – should be quite a show.
The opening track perpetual rest is a stamp of awesome guitar and percussive authority. Entrails picks up the tempo somewhat and you get to hear what a great sound these guys have. I probably would have opened the album with this if we’re splitting hairs, but it makes little difference, either song should be enough to make you want to draw you in, if this sort of extreme metal is your thing of course.
I admittedly don’t listen to so much of this stuff anymore but there’s definitely a cannibal corpse feel to some of this and from a production and technical point of view I find it pretty well perfect.
There is no real break in the intensity of these tracks apart from Illumination through segregation which is a tasteful instrumental, and the sheer precision of all of these tracks is impressive.
Well, the closing title track is also pretty unsettling too I should add, and not typical of the genre. A memorable way to close the album.
I found it refreshing that the singer does not try to demonstrate that he has an amazing high C as well, as that just has no place in this genre in my opinion. It’s just relentless brutality for the bulk of it, and it works.
Cradle of mind is my pick of the album, as it’s uncompromising in every aspect, and the changes in it are just crushing. The only other thing I would bring up is the exceptional ability they have to manage both the blast beat fast and heavy slow tempos, and it’s one of the things that can make or break a band’s live performance. If this sort of extreme metal is your thing, definitely check them out, you won’t be disappointed.
New Blood: Facebook
Release Year: 2012
Label: Grindhead Records
Category: Album
Country: Australia
Reviewed by Matt
