During Slam Week Pt. 1, I listed my five favorite slam albums, which included releases from Wormed, Devourment, Sarcolytic, Defeated Sanity, and Dying Fetus. Since I have added a bunch of slam albums since then, I figured I would update that post with some more.
ABOMINABLE PUTRIDITY: IN THE END OF HUMAN EXISTENCE
Abominable Putridity is a Russian slam death metal band that has had a number of different vocalists over the years, including well-known grunters like Big Chocolate and Matti Way. This album features the much less well-known Vladimir, but nevertheless was one of my favorite slam albums early on. There is not much to say here, it is just typical slam, but it is performed highly competently. There is a reason Abominable Putridity is one of the first bands recommended when getting into the genre. It is a very good gateway.
BODYSNATCH: INSIGHTS OF A ROTTEN THEATRE
I have not had this one very long but it made an immediate impression on me. This is a truly original album by a slam death metal band with a variety of other influences and some highly unusual moments thrown in. Part of the reason behind the odd moments is the fact that two of the members were previously in Stream of Consciousness, a progressive metal band. I am not really sure what the decision-making process of going from progressive metal to slam death metal was like, but I have absolutely no complaints. This is one of the best slam death metal albums in years.
INTERNAL BLEEDING: VORACIOUS CONTEMPT
This album is one of the very early roots of slam death metal. It came out in 1995, after the beginnings of the genre were carved out by Suffocation and Pyrexia. Internal Bleeding took some of those ideas and built upon them, which eventually lead to the basic sound of slam death metal as we know it. Devourment then took the ideas from Internal Bleeding and kept improving on them. This though is one of the early true slam death metal albums. This was a hugely influential album on the beginnings of the slam death genre. The music itself is fairly simple and it is clear that Suffocation was the band's major influence, but Internal Bleeding did not have the technical mastery that Suffocation had, which helped lead them into the slam genre.
PUTRID PILE: HOUSE OF DEMENTIA
A one-man slam/brutal death metal band, Putrid Pile is still an extremely powerful and extremely loud band. The band is Shaun LaCanne who performs all of the vocals and guitar and bass parts and programs the drum machine. The drum machine is barely noticeable as the rest of the music is done so well. This is a very impressive album which shows the ability to make slam death sound fresh and interesting. This is a much faster-paced album than some other albums from the genre and the speed of the riffs is probably its best quality. I am also very impressed with the Deicide-esque layered vocals.
VOMIT REMNANTS: SUPREME VEHEMENCE
This is kind of cheating. This album from Japan's Vomit Remnants is actually a compilation of the band's Supreme Entity full-length from 1999 and the Indefensible Vehemence EP from 2001. So it is actually one and a half albums, but I am still counting it because I absolutely love it. Vomit Remnants bring an almost machine-like precision to slam death metal. There are parts that are almost industrial metal-esque. Japan has been blessed with a number of very good slam death metal bands, Vomit Remnants is probably one of the best.
Showing posts with label bodysnatch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bodysnatch. Show all posts
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Initial Impressions: Bodysnatch: Insights of a Rotten Theatre
This has to be one of the most ambitious slam/brutal death metal albums I have ever heard. Bodysnatch is a Swiss studio-only project that pack a lot of surprises and do a lot of unique things that this typically creatively stagnant subgenre does not see a lot of. Bodysnatch features Fredrik Widigs, drummer for Soils of Fate, a band I will discuss later this week, and two vocalists, who combine to create a hell of a racket.
The first thing that I will discuss is the only drawback to this album. I want this to be a generally positive review, but there is one detraction. This album is long. The album is just shy of an hour long which is incredible for slam death metal. Almost every song is more than five minutes long. It is pretty incredible.
The length of the album though is hardly noticed because Bodysnatch does some amazingly creative things. They have a lot of ideas that are thrown in making each song an intense and interesting listening experience. Bodysnatch complements the crushing slam riffs with some surprisingly melodic passages at times. In addition there are moments when the vocals are actually rapped, yet retaining the deep guttural sound. It is quite the intriguing combination.
All of the unusual inclusions though do not detract from the crushing riffs and slams. The band still rolls along at a mid-paced grooving chug, a la Jungle Rot and others. This is an incredible slam release and one that has definitely risen to be one of my favorite albums in the genre.
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