Resurgency: False Enlightenment (2012)

Infesters

Sometimes I get really bored with death metal. Especially these days. I'm more likely to toss a death metal record after about three tracks than I am to listen to it more than once. I get more out of Locrian, the kind of stuff that used to bore me to tears. An endless stream of rehashed Swe-death, tech-death, and modern death bands fail to impress, and even the old-school revival ranks are flowing with mediocrity. Sometimes, it makes me ask myself if I'm going soft. But then along comes a band who prove that death metal still has its appeal.

Greek death metallers Resurgency are one of those bands. Catchy riffs, brutal sound, and headbanging rhythms. With a twist that, while not completely original, at least hasn't been done to . . . uh, death.


They play death metal that mostly mimics the New York style, with high-speed Suffocating riffs, nearly constant double-bass drumming, and mosh-friendly slow parts. (I hate to use the term "breakdown," but there it is.) Their twist to the formula is that the guitars are played almost entirely in tremolo style. Infester did a similar NYDM-with-tremolo-riffing thing back in the day (theirs was more Incant- than Suffoc-), but not many are doing it now.

The only real drawback to False Enlightenment is the solos. Or, more accurately, the lack of them. The first half of the record has no solos. On "Ending the Beginning" they tease with some Slayer style chords dropping off, but it isn't until the latter half that they break out the solos. And when they come, they're not especially impressive. The biggest contribution of lead guitar work is in the squealing accents of songs like "Mouth of Hades" and "Psychosis."

As with most death metal, the songs can run together a little bit, and I'd like to be able to hear the bass. But this is some fine work. Turn it all the way up for maximum effect.

The Verdict: 3.5 out of 5 stars



Hellthrasher Productions

[Note: This is one of those times when I'm tempted to go into ratings in .25 increments, for a 3.75 . . . but that's a slippery-slope into a ridiculous 100-point scale.]