Regardless of being the single output of the already inactive Injury To Eye, this one deserves being dug up and listened to with some heavy attention as it’s some of the most invigorating, startling and just flat out brutal music we have heard in a while. It’s been years, if not decades, since actual LP’s filled with songs as massive as the Carcass and Demigod inflected “Nailing Embalming Fluid” were put out by morbid, possessed, self-annihilating death metal groups. The transition between phrases is absolutely insane, the melodies convoluted, the soundscape altering between droning noise and explosive grind, acutely aware and progressing towards all directions at once, led by the fragmented guitarwork which crackles with hybrid fires reminiscent of, among others, British and Finnish styles of grindcore. Sometimes the music collapses into being dissonant and maiming with its full force and then loses some of the quality of composition because the themes can’t carry this weight – angry noise supercedes, such as in the spiteful “Mysteries” which builds a post-hardcore doom violence out of a sick voice sample and tortured melody utilizing noise. However, as soon as the doomy jam has taken over everything, they relapse the fast and beautiful convoluted chording before any impression turns wholly putrid. Imagine a concise and suffocating mix of early Asphyx jamming with stoners, including an atonal jazz soloist.
Death Maze comes across as a rudimentary demo level death metal band, not yet fully comprehensive in their ability to build quality first rate metal, but experimenting with the sounds and forms of the likes of earlier Dark Tranquillity and newer Dismember, including NYDM style brutal rhythm riffs but taking care to not use many heavy metal influences. That is a strategic choice though, because when these influences appear they drag the bunch down as in the too emotional lead melody that appears in “Cries of the Past”. Maybe best characterized as a prototype of the developments that happened in German death metal, like Kreator morphing towards Lemming Project, Death Maze thrash out simple melodies and conclude with tremolo variants, simple bridges from riff to another and rocking solos. And like most later German metal, the genius parts are brought low by confused arrangement, bringing across the absurd emotion of pain and desperation in the soul-shattering breaks and mental turbulence, but the general impression is weak. For example, the rock solo in “Din Sista Bon” was a bad idea and the minimalist riff in the song sounds really angry but the song does not carry out a story associated it so I must assume it is Weltschmerz. However, the sometimes black metal influenced melodies are good and so is the basic structure – instrumental and vocal performances, especially the higher pitched ones, could be more exciting, fleshed out and turbulent. Parts in “Beersong”, ironically their best song, sound like South American / Mexican brutal-death of chromatic simple riffs building an understanding through interlocking of spaces – good for headbanging!
Young CA neo-death metallers Logistic Slaughter amalgamate Slayer’s and Bolt Thrower’s characteristical high-speed metal-punk riffs with a few clever leads and the sharp clinical rhythmics of today’s mainstream death metal, or mainstream oriented tributes to old death metal such as Hail of Bullets or the Benediction-with-false-harmonics hybrid style of Denmark’s Iniquity. Except for machined drums that suck away some organicism from the sound, the band plays its game convincingly well as a collection of likeable but simple ground based death metal patterns, including some eerie meandering Neurosis death-jam in “Illusiverity”, not yet in the first class of material but destined for success if they work hard. It presents itself as an EP from which we can go to two directions: if they go for simple structure of the riffs, obvious rhythmization of vocals and rocking to the beat it can become modern neo-crap like Blood Red Throne but what they actually should look up to are the ever relevant works of mid era Napalm Death or maybe Malevolent Creation – this I have hope for because right now Logistic Slaughter is heavy, vital and filled with unrealized potential – all good attributes to death metal which is a process in discovery of itself. They possess a rudimentary knowledge of what makes death metal real and that’s what is important, right? While this is no Immolation it’s a whole lot better than the pseudo-progressive abominations we’ve been reviewing at times, since at least the fast Slayer-ish “Sanctuary of Hate” rolled over me like a panzer.
Filed under: Death Metal Music Reviews — Tags: Black Metal, Death Metal, Death Metal Demos, Heavy Metal, Swedish Death Metal, The Future — Devamitra @ July 23, 2009 21:33 — Comments (0)
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