Meant to Suffer “Colony Collapse Disorder” CD

"Colony Collapse Disorder" is the debut full-length from Brazil's Meant to Suffer, self-released on the band's own Blasted Flag label. I had never heard of these guys before they sent me the album to check out, but their approach is an interesting mix of death metal, metallic hardcore, and a little bit of grind. It's got a vibe similar to some of those early- to mid-90's death metal albums that started stripping down to simpler riffs with a little more groove, but the songs are all pretty short (12 tracks in just 21 minutes), which seems to make the hardcore influences feel more dominant throughout. As a result, it sort of reminds of that sorely underrated band Anger, from Florida, that was a hardcore side project from some members of Solstice and such—though Meant to Suffer occasionally changes things up with some weird dissonant riffs and quickly shifting arrangements to keep you on your toes. It's honestly a little bit confusing, though the blend of influences doesn't particularly come across as disjointed or anything like that. I don't have the lyrics, but also strange is the shift from (potentially) more serious song titles like "Gods Made of Clay" and "Minor Universe" to oddball tunes like "Ballerina Fetish" and "Lovely Chainsaw Incident". Who knows!? All that being said, if you stop over-thinking unnecessary questions about genre classification, it's a solid album with plenty of chugging riffs, forceful vocals, and just the right amount of quirkiness. Check out a song for yourselves and see what you make of it:

Meant to Suffer "Nine Ghosts"

You can't order the disc online anywhere at the moment, so you'll have to contact the band directly via email or MySpace to see what it takes to acquire a copy. They've been kind enough to offer the album up for free download to those interested in checking out the material, so definitely contact them for more information if you like what you hear!

[DOWNLOAD] Meant to Suffer "Colony Collapse Disorder" (@ MediaFire)