I don't know if these three songs are actually from the band's forthcoming full-length or what, but this is generic death metal that's really fairly boring. It's not memorable at all. They do have a unique vocal approach, they're low growls, but they have their own flare, which I do like. But from a writing standpoint this is third rate at best. The opening track is straight melodic Swedish death metal with tons of tremolo picking; "In the Absence of All Desire" is heavier and more technical overall, though not that fast, it's got sort of a classic death metal approach; and the last piece is along those same lines but sort of brings back some of the melody and incorporates a thrashy vibe. All of this makes me wonder if this band really has a clear direction since the three songs all sort of cater to different, though connected, approaches. I should hope these are just demo recordings rather than advance tracks from the record, because the production isn't up to speed for anything more than a demo. The bass sounds like it's significantly out of tune with the guitars, everything is rugged and somewhat lacking in detail... the mix isn't that bad, but the tones are all on the somewhat shoddy side, so... I mean, it sounds like a demo, so... that's okay. I can live with it in this format, but if this was a full record I'd be far harder on the recording. The CD-R comes in a slim jewel case with a xeroxed cover that looks pretty good for what it is. The type is tiny and crisp, the cover looks alright (it could potentially blow in color, though), etc. It's a bit bland and plain, and I'm not a fan of "promotional demos" by nature, but whatever. I'm not sure what they're going for with the weird sci-fi twist to the lyrics: "Remains of DNA code indecipherably lost, instigate congestion in the weakening system, Failure conveys the end is near, habit change creates an unfelt unmatched emptiness..." Ehhh, this isn't my thing. I like a few of the riffs but this is really boring, even at a mere 12 - 13 minutes. Their bio says that their lineup "features veteran musicians from Rellik, Afterlife, and Insides Out", three bands that I've never heard of (well, there have been 5,000,000 bands named Afterlife, but...), so I can't say I'm expecting this band to make a real mark.
[self-released]
Running time - 12:36, Tracks: 3
[Notable tracks: Parallels]
Infecting the Soul - http://www.infectingthesoul.com
