Bloodshed "Inhabitants of Dis" CD
[Code666]
Here's some pretty typical blackened death metal from Sweden that's held back by an immeasurably thin and basically powerless recording. The vocals range from higher sneers to lower growls, the riffs are all basically fast and based around tremolo picked chords, there's a subtle amount of melody in there, a few slower runs or more dissonant textures, etc. It's a shame about the recording, because for some reason the drums actually sound better than most of this stuff - crisp, but fairly dense and almost natural. But there's a severe lack of bass presence, the vocals are a little weak, the guitars are really thin and have no real warmth or character, etc. It's just a really one-sided recording with tons of midrange and no real crunch or punch at all, of course meaning that it also lacks clarity. It's pretty unoriginal material as well, which doesn't help, but it's competently performed, so with a better sound it would be enjoyable. Now and then they throw in a thrashier rhythm or slow things down and catch my ear, but for the most part it's pretty bland. They use some clean parts now and then, but the plain production ruins those passages as well, so they serve little purpose. The layout looks fucking awesome here, however. The disc comes in a large glossy digipack with varying artwork, some of which is dark, some of which is based around white space. The booklet and inner panels of the case are strewn with photos of human and animal skeletons and strange, gloomy landscapes with the band members involved in most cases. I wish the band members weren't in almost every photo, especially on the cover, but it's been well handled regardless. Some of the lyrics are a little cheesy, but I've seen worse, they have their moments. "A construction where all tones are set. From the beginning to the bitter end. Fate is mine to choose totally, as destiny is hollow as hope..." I'm just not really into this. It's alright, but none of the songs grab me at all (sans some of the more memorable rhythms in "Doomsday Device"), and the recording's a real setback for this record. Even with a superior sound it wouldn't be wonderful, but it would be significantly more forceful. (5/10)
Running time - 41:20, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Doomsday Device]
Code666 - http://www.code666.net

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