Embalming Theatre "Sweet Chainsaw Melodies" CD
[Razorback]
After a surprising and rather effective experimental noise intro, this Swiss death/grind act unloads 21 tracks of vicious material. The vocals are textbook guttural growls that are a bit more effective than most, musically there's plenty of speed happening (but not to the point where it becomes tedious), and the songs tend to be less than two minutes, keeping things in line and preventing the listen from becoming tedious. As is often the case, I tend to prefer the songs that mix up the tempos a bit and kick some raging slow breaks (check out "She Ate Her Flesh"), and these guys tend to be good at handling that. I also like the way they deal with samples, because when samples are present they seem to actually apply to the songs, and they don't use them all over the record, opting to place them intentionally on sparse occasions. I'm not familiar with Exulceration, but a cover of their very own "Gastric Purulence" also makes an appearance. As for the sound, the vocals are somewhat dominant in the mix, just barely, but that's often the case with really low growls. I think this material needs to be driven by the guitars, so making the guitars and the bass more central would be cool, but it sounds pretty good as it is. I especially like the fact that the drums are totally natural. I think the percussion needs a more even mix so that the snare and the cymbals don't jump out in front, but again, it's a minor issue. The layout's not bad at all. The artwork is definitely awesome, and totally looks like it could have come from horror movie posters (though it's worth mentioning that all of the artwork is original here). The inner spread with the lyrics uses bold fonts that are somewhat typical of most Razorback releases, and I still think that could improve, but it gets the job done. And I'll absolutely mention that I like the fact that this band isn't just singing about random gore and violence, as they've included a brief note at the end of each song dictating what real life event(s) inspired the lyrics. So there are songs ranging in subject matter from tales of stolen body parts or cannibalism to freakish tales of murder or other gory mishaps. Good stuff. Razorback is certainly keeping their niche nailed down and improving all the time. Fans of the label won't be let down by this record at all. (7/10)
Running time - 32:36, Tracks: 22
[Notable tracks: Sweet Chainsaw Melodies, Four Brains One Hand and One Foot in My Luggage, She Ate Her Flesh, Buried Alive II: Breath of Cancer]
Razorback Records - http://www.razorbackrecords.com

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