Thursday, April 11, 2013

Metal Briefs: Death Metal Quickies

A Quick Death, Part 2

Lately I've found that death metal can be particularly satisfying in small doses, often. So I keep an eye out for short, intense death metal outbursts like some of these.

Bone Sickness: Alone in the Grave (2013)
4 out of 5 stars


Bone Sickness plays some of the filthiest and fastest death metal on the planet, with some of the most unclean solos you'll hear in 2013. In contrast to Acephalix, these guys put crust into a wholly American style of death. Think Autopsy running so fast that pieces of their instruments start flying off in every direction. They do slow things down a little on the title track, but not for long. This is a hell of a ride, and even though it's only an 18 minute full-length, it's genuinely every bit as satisfying as any half-hour.



(Couldn't find an embed for this release, but this demo track should give you a rough idea. The album releases April 30.)


Rotten Sound: Species at War (EP 2013)
4 out of 5 stars


I may not be much of an expert on grind, but I love the way Rotten Sound puts it into death metal. It's capital-H Heavy and, even though most of it's extremely fast, they still manage to make it groove. This 8-minute EP puts all their strengths on display, and like any good EP, it leaves you wanting more.



Kardashev: Progression (Demo 2012)
3 out of 5 stars


About 4-6 years ago, I really would have loved Kardashev. They play progressive/technical death metal (more prog than tech) with keyboards and a sci-fi theme. I suspect their biggest influences are Cynic, The Faceless, and video game / sci-fi film soundtracks. People who shared my interests in 1997 will not be able to shake some Final Fantasy VII flashbacks here. (There is definitely a common thread between "Stellar Advancement" and "JENOVA"). The songwriting is fairly good, too, and the sound quality is what you'd expect from a band of this style. I'm just not terribly into this stuff anymore. (It is available for any price, though.)

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