Mass Burial - Of Carrion And Pestilence
Mass Burial is a Death Metal band that hails from Spain and draws on a raw, old school approach similar to Dismember. Their debut album 'Of Carrion and Pestilence' is a harsh listen, but within its brutality there leaves a lot to be desired. With a high amount of distortion, the riffs almost all meld together with the drums for a bit of a Sludge Metal atmosphere that is always crackling with distortion. On a slow, more mid paced track like "Rotten Rise Again" this is fine. On faster tracks such as the opening "Of Carrion And Pestilence," the only thing that can really stand out is the roaring vocals while everything is swirling and clawing in the background. This allows listeners to get a focus of the talent behind the snarling, but as far as the instrumental work it just feels like they are trying to play their instruments as fast as possible. The only real moment of clarity comes from the oddly melodic interlude in this track along with some spoken word dialogue, but aside from that the rest is lost in translation.
This 'crust punk' atmosphere is innovative, but if it is done the same way over and over it can tend to get boring pretty quickly. Sometimes the group will sneak in a solo that hits like daylight through a storm such as on "Post War Psychosis," but these moments are so brief and rare that it doesn't really give enough to hold listeners. The closing "When Fury Became Blood" incorproates some amount of rhythm and melody that can be compared to Bolt Thrower and it doesn't just rely on the solo to suddenly grab listeners and say 'hey, we're doing something different... pay attention!' However, Mass Burial just doesn't do this enough. True, the average Death Metal fan or old-school Death Metal reminiscer will find the ugly production and incredible speed of the riffs something to enjoy, but when compared to cleaner and more technical stuff produced out there where one can usually determine vocals from guitar from drums from bass, there is much that could have been done to make this album more than just a mass of generic riffing.
This 'crust punk' atmosphere is innovative, but if it is done the same way over and over it can tend to get boring pretty quickly. Sometimes the group will sneak in a solo that hits like daylight through a storm such as on "Post War Psychosis," but these moments are so brief and rare that it doesn't really give enough to hold listeners. The closing "When Fury Became Blood" incorproates some amount of rhythm and melody that can be compared to Bolt Thrower and it doesn't just rely on the solo to suddenly grab listeners and say 'hey, we're doing something different... pay attention!' However, Mass Burial just doesn't do this enough. True, the average Death Metal fan or old-school Death Metal reminiscer will find the ugly production and incredible speed of the riffs something to enjoy, but when compared to cleaner and more technical stuff produced out there where one can usually determine vocals from guitar from drums from bass, there is much that could have been done to make this album more than just a mass of generic riffing.
- Of Carrion And Pestilence
- Intense Genital Punishment
- Tomb Desecrator
- Mass Burial
- Post War Psychosis
- Rotten Rise Again
- Deathlike Dream
- Virulent Infestation
- T.T.T.R.
- Only One Bullet Left
- When Fury Became Blood
Label: http://wydawnictwopsycho.com
Reviewer: Colin McNamara
Jun 14, 2012
Jun 14, 2012
Next review:
Insidiae - Where Demons Dare
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