Atrocious Abnormality-Echoes of the Rotting
(Comatose Music, 2008)

What we have here is the debut album from Atrocious Abnormality and what a fierce slab of brutality it is. Combining the rhythmic stomp of US style death metal with hints of technicality and all out speed, the band manages to create a whirlwind death metal album filled with brain rattling grooves and jaw dropping guitar riffs. Completed with a high speed yet powerful drum performance and bestial vocals and you have an album that shows what US death metal is all about.

The songs are short and to the point and rarely is there every any wasted space within the songs. Think of a Origin mixed with New York style death metal and you'll have the basic idea of what to expect from this band. When the tempo is kicked into overdrive the band plays with relentless energy and yet remains incredibly tight. The groove sections are just as tight and allow the riffing to be a bit more interesting and easy to decipher. The fast riffs are essentially flurries of notes yet the band manages to add little touches to keep things memorable. That said the songs on the album do tend to have a similar feel. That said the entire album is over in a half an hour and with numerous listens I'm sure each song begins to have more of an identity. One surprise certainly comes in the form of a cover of The Misfits classic Mommy Can I Go Out and Kill Tonight? The band basically turns it into a grindcore song and it sounds fantastic.

The performance is spot on and the production is basically perfect for this style of music allowing the energy to come through yet maintaining a clarity to keep the mix from turning to mud. If you are a fan of US based death metal, Atrocious Abnormality are a band that has a lot to offer. From blasts to groove the band handles everything they tackle masterfully with even a few shred based surprises guitar wise. If you like death metal you'll like this, plain and simple.

Hackneyed-Death Prevails
(Nuclear Blast Records, 2008)

I'm the type of person that tends to always ignore hype. With a band like Hackneyed it seems like there is going to be a lot of hype due to the fact that the band is made up of a group of youngsters, with the youngest being 14. All age issues aside, Death Prevails is a competent and enjoyable death metal album. Is it astonishing that young teenagers wrote the album? Not at all. Is it an album worth your time? Absolutely.

The band definitely has a fairly simple and effective take on the death metal genre, but it is a bit typical at the same time. The riffs offer a nice blend of tremolo picked runs and more rhythmic fare. Melody works its way into the riffing quite often as well helping to keep the riffs from seeming overly one dimensional. Don't get me wrong, these guys are definitely onto something and play with an incredibly amount of confidence. It is just easy to pick up that Decapitated are one of their biggest influences. There are a few riffs that seem a bit out of place I would say, For instance the opening riff of Worlds Collide just seems out of place while a song like Symphony of Death truly shows what the band has to offer.

It certainly wouldn't be a good idea to skip this album due to the fact that the band is young. If you are like me and the fiasco that was the Death Kids is still part of your memory, you can rest assured that this is a well played and suprrisingly diverse death metal album. This is a tight and competent death metal album that shows a young band that stumbles only a few times throughout. Call me convinced, I'll be waiting to see what the band can do with their next album.

Altars-Self-Titled
(Self-Released, 2008)

Hampered only by a muddy production, this demo CD from Australia based Altars is a pounding and unique experiment in death metal butchery. Imagine Gorguts and Morbid Angel facing off with a hint of Aussie war metal thrown in for good measure. It makes for an interesting listen full of unique riff ideas, blistering tempos and guttural vocal roars. The amazing thing is that the band manages to be harsh yet the riffs have an almost ambient quality at times showing a Mithras influence possibly.

The fact that this is still a band in the demo stages is quite staggering to me. These 4 songs are easily some of the most interesting death metal I have heard in a very long time. They manage to take the foundation of the genre and just turn it right on its head. The Gorguts influence is definitely there yet at the same time the sound is still quite different. The pinch harmonics, squeals, and odd notes used all help to create an adventourous style of riffing that is far from being typical of the death metal genre. It is a shame that the production is muddy as it would be awesome to hear the riffs with even more clarity.

This is the type of demo that makes me want to start a record label and help the band find more ears to annihilate. This is a fierce and experimental demo that shows a band with a truly promising future in the world of death metal. If you are a fan of Gorguts, Morbid Angel, or Mithras this is a band that you need to check out right now!

http://www.myspace.com/altarsofficial