Blood Oath

2009-07-23T11:24:00.000-05:00

Blood Oath Review

Well boys and girls, Suffocation has returned with another visceral assault upon the death metal audience. Blood Oath is now here and it definitely hits with a heavy, tech supported sound that has made Suffocation what they are for all of these years. Blasphemers spew forth the word, bludgeoners hit something, and cannibals devour the innocent for we have yet another slab of pure-bred American death metal.

With this effort Suffocation stick to what they do best. The only true variance being the fact that Blood Oath keeps you adjusting to new riffs and time signatures in a much quicker fashion than many songs deemed classics by their fan base. Personally this is something I enjoy, though it does make the songs more difficult to get attuned to than say…Pierced From Within or Despise the Sun.

Mullen’s vocals remain quite punishing, matching the constant attack of bone crushing riffs churned forth by the Terrance – Guy duet. All the while Smith doesn’t miss the mark once, a true tech-death drumming veteran indeed. The musicianship presented on this album is unquestionable, a strong reminder as to why Suffocation have been such a driving force behind the death metal scene for 20 years now.

All in all, Blood Oath is a strong effort that will keep this act a current dominating factor within the death metal scene, instead of just the influential past. Stand out tracks on this album: Dismal Dream; Mental Hemorrhage; Come Hell or High Priest. Dig in and enjoy death metal minions.

8 out of 10

-Jason Wick

Into Nights Requiem Infernal

2009-07-21T18:16:00.001-05:00

Into Night’s Requiem Infernal Review

Novembers Doom has been a band that has always been successful with combining crushing death passages with melodic, dark, and emotional essences. And with the release of The Pale Haunt Departure they showed they were not scared to push brutally honest concepts within their music, no matter what the ‘scene’ may say. The Novella Reservoir continued this, though musically the album took a much faster, unrelenting method into hand.

It was these two albums that defined Novembers Doom as their own, unique, thriving entity within the metal community for me. And now they have brought us more with the release of Into Night’s Requiem Infernal…and all I have to say is the massive amount of anticipation for this release wasn’t let down in the slightest. This album mended with and surpassed all the hopes I had for it.

We start off with the ominous sound of the album title track slowly bearing in on you. Into Night’s Requiem Infernal captures the darkest portions of TPHD album and puts them into one track. Immediately you can feel a difference in the music, though it is unmistakably Novembers Doom. The drums prove to hold a completely new feel as they still mesh with the feel of the sound…immediately the album proves that Sasha was indeed a good addition to the Novembers Doom outfit. Paul’s increasingly haunting; articulate growls carve out this track though, letting you know this is the Novembers Doom experience multiplied.

A Eulogy for the Living Lost kicks in hard right afterwards. Once again, the new addition on drums shines through quite brilliantly, giving this track perfect flow, while keeping it uncompromising, even in its lighter moments. Though perhaps this was the most surprising revelation within the track, it also holds two other revelations that tell me Novembers Doom are indeed peaking. First, Paul’s vocals have definitely improved greatly since previous efforts. His cleans have past a ‘good set of pipes’ and hit the ‘something to be envied’ status. His growls, though they always have been some of the best out there, continue to improve greatly. Second, the production is flawless at this point. Everything comes through exactly how it should to give this album the perfect overall sound, and along with the superb musicianship and writing, making it flow effortlessly.

This experience continues on, track by track upping the bar continually. The Pale Haunt Departure and The Novella Reservoir seem to have collided, leaving Into Night’s Requiem Infernal in their wake. Everything good about the band has indeed remained intact and evolved.

The changes vocally are perhaps strongest in the albums climax, ‘When Desperation Fills the Void.’ Thomas Jensen from Saturnus couples with Paul on said track, adding in an extremely effective spoken word verse under Paul’s lightly soaring clean vocals. I truly believe the step Kuhr has taken in this album will open Novembers Doom to a whole new array of listeners. I have always loved Paul’s vocal work; however there was never any doubt that his unique style was most definitely not accessible by the vast public. Now though I believe he has reached a point, after these past couple releases, where more and more will be able to latch on, and truly feel his every word.

Through the touching calm of ‘The Fifth of March’, the thrashing pain of ‘Lazarus Regret’ to the adhesive ND feel of ‘I Hurt Those I Adore’, Paul and crew have proven they have not welcomed the fade.

9.25 out of 10

Project Dissection

Blood Oath

Into Nights Requiem Infernal