Country: Release Date: 2005 Record Label: Nihilistic Holocaust Track list: Band Websites: |
Deep Vein/Bloody Sign/Oppression - Split
Here's a fairly unique split CD from French upstart label Nihilistic Holocaust featuring French Death Metallers Deep Vein, French Death/Black Bloody Sign, and the Swede Thrash outfit Oppression. As with most Split CDs, the production quality varies, in most cases being more rough than polished, but never less than tolerable. Such is also the case with the musical quandry. It seems as if these are bands who've not had a great deal of time in a studio, and at a few points the whole thing seems amateurish. Not to a fault, though, because we must still bear in mind that this is an independent. And as far as indie CD-r releases go, this is actually pretty damned good. There are enough good ideas, riffs, and enough diversity to warrant this Split's inclusion in your collection, should you be able to find a copy. Initially released as a cassette last year, Nihilistic Holocaust claims that the re-release on CD-r was due to the fact that "Tapes are too heavy for undergays" as states the back cover of the disc. Starting with Deep Vein, playing their take on what sounds to me like early Necrophobic meets ''Blessed'-era Morbid Angel meets Mercyless (France) midpaced Death Metal, the recording shows promise early on. Deep Vein deliver a thoroughly old school sound incorporating a lot of time changes, dissonant riffs, and powerful high/low vocals. "Infernal Litanies" is probably their best song here, and oddly enough, sounds the most Floridian of their respective three songs. Their part of the split would be outstanding if the sound were just cleaned up a bit. Even still, it's safe to say I'll most definitely be on the lookout for this band's full length debut. The second at bat are France's own Bloody Sign, sporting a tight and slightly melodic Sodom meets ''Let Us Pray' -era Vital Remains influenced Death Metal sound that's like a blast from the past. Bloody Sign thrash heavily on their two tunes, pulling from the classic set of influences for this style of music. Relying on downbeats and blasts most heavily, their drummer deserves special note. even if only for the fact that I haven't heard such a taut downbeat since Massacre's 'From Beyond'. But whoa... These vocals! Bloody Sign's vocalist Hagend all but outshines every other member of this band. He mixes the Death and Black Metal vocal styles perfectly, and not really so much in "grunt then scream, wash rinse repeat" fashion. It's more akin a tortured howl that has a consistent low register tone, but suits either sound perfectly. I'm a fan, without doubt. These guys rule. I'm not raving about this because I already own their full-length record on Ibex Moon records, and enjoy the fuck out of it... I listened to their part of this split as if I had never heard them before... And I was still blown away. And, I suppose every party has to have one of these... You know, the guy that tries really hard to fit in, but just can't quite pull it off, and comes across as a second-rate clone more than anything else? Ok, so maybe I'm being too hard on Oppression, because they seem talented, and they have a monstrous production here, it's easily the best on this split. Sounds just like Sadus' 'Swallowed In Black', complete with the bloink donk thwunk donk boink bass sound that's just a bit high in the mix. But here's the catch... They're totally unoriginal. And their vocalist is intolerable. Now, I know some of you might be saying "But it's Thrash! How can Thrash be original in the year 2005? You want original? Go listen to Dream Theater, you homo!" And I might be inclined to answer with "Ever hear of Hypnosia ?" To sum it up, Oppression need to find a vocalist that sounds less like Don Doty as a DJ at a european gay techno bar, and they'd be a bona-fide Dark Angel/Morbid Saint clone. Which is just fine by me, because I love both of those bands. When I find a way to tune out Oppression's vocalist, I'll be playing the hell out of this one. This one gets extra points for the cool packaging done by Gab of Nihilistic Holocaust, as well the inclusion of the talented new(?) bands Deep Vein and Bloody Sign. Unfortunately, this record loses major points for allowing Oppression to have 5 songs, while the other two bands have a meager 2-3, as well as Oppression's downright abomination of a vocalist.
August 4th, 2005 |
