God damn… Willowtip is just digging out all of the good
death metal bands lately. It's no wonder a lot of other labels are
mostly releasing total shit. This one's a real winner across the
board. The music is fucking complete and total death metal just how
it should be done: A sense of contemporary flare with old school
roots, great changes (and tons of 'em), just the right amount of
technicality, a wide range of tempos, solid musicianship and
songwriting, and so on. And all of this compressed into songs that
almost never stretch past the three-minute mark. The vocals are
incredibly forceful low growls with some slightly higher screams on
occasion. And if you want to talk contrast, take the fucking
stellar "Hungry American" - one minute sounding not unlike early
Deicide at their best, the next dropping a slick acoustic melody,
then breaking into some chugging rhythms with fucked up time
signatures and nice dual guitar interaction. Also evident on
occasion are brief yet blazing solos, light instances of perfect
dissonance, or carefully tucked away melodies. Fucking great stuff.
The recording is awesome. I don't have any real complaints. The
drums sound great and highlight a tight performance, the guitar
tone is loud and heavy, but not messy, the bass tone is well
defined and adds great low-end density, and the vocals are
perfectly placed right at the heart of it. There are a few breaks
where the bass takes control and it sounds fucking amazing, so I'd
definitely like to hear the basslines take hold a little bit more,
but it's not a big deal. This sounds better than most any death
metal release that's come out on far larger labels lately. Also far
above average are the lyrics, which encompass an intelligence
almost unheard of within such genres. "The shirt of the nation is
still stained with the gravy. A whole generation now knows no fear
for life or prosperity. Awaiting a time, awaiting a chance to put
their ass on the line. The loyal and vicious gather arms and begin
to shine. Hunger pain in the homes of average men hails the
twilight of altruism's orgies once again. Inspiration comes when
looking out for number one…" The layout uses a minimal color scheme
of browns with tons of metallic gold ink printed above. It can make
the lyrics hard to read at certain angles, but it's worth it in the
end because it looks slick. This is another one of the best death
metal records I've heard in years, and it's the second of which
coming compliments of Willowtip. Highly recommended. 9/10