Rating: 5.2

Country: USA

Release Date: 2005

Record Label: Self-Released

Track list:
1. Butcher the Weak
2. Masturbating at the Slab
3. Serial Cocksucker
4. Tomb of Scabs
5. Autoerotic Asphyxiation
6. Anal Electrocution
7. Fuck Her Head Off
8. Baby Killer

Total playing time: 30:34

Band Website: Devourment

Devourment - Butcher The Weak

Mike Majewski - Vocals
Ruben Rosas - Guitar and Vocals
Chris Andrews - Bass
Eric Park - Drums

Put your baseball hat on sideways and get your baggy black pants on cause Devourment' new release ‘Butcher the Weak' has hit the streets. Yup, the long wait is over and fan-boys can flock in droves to their favorite on line label to order up the latest chaotic chugs on disc from the forerunners of the slamming Brutal Death Metal genre. Substitutions for Devourment like 50 Cent and Carnivore Diprosopus can be laid to rest, for the kings of slams and jams have returned. The time to be a Brootal thug is here!!!! 

Now, I'm not one of the eager fan-boys whose exuberance over the release of ‘Butchering the Weak' has left them more blinded than a porn starlet after a double facial. This means I will be able to take a more reasoned approach to what the music on Devourment' latest offering is all about. In the six years since ‘1.3.8' Devourment has gone through crazy line-up changes that only their dedicated fans could recant. Basically Ruben Rosas has traded his microphone for guitar and bass, Mike Majewski is on vocals, and Eric Park is behind the drum kit. Despite the changes in members, and shifting of vocalists Devourment has managed to stay within the framework of sound that has made them popular among fans who have dubiously proclaimed them as cult. Majewski is not as putrid or deep as Rosas on ‘Molesting the Decapitated', but he gets the job done in nefariously brutal fashion with thick gurgled whispers, that sound like a throat cancer patient with a microphone. Rosas does a good job on guitar and bass in that he provides the trademark Devourment mosh pit chug riffage that induces slams. Park slaps the kit around as good as or better than Brad Fincher with simplistic beats that Eminem could compliment with some freestyle verses. The double bass is quick as it holds the speed when the other instruments become languid during pit riffs. Park's fills are fast and mildly technical as are his double snare rolls that make me think of what it must have been like to be a machine gunner at the battle of Verdun during WW1. Probably what makes the music standout a bit more on ‘Butcher the Weak' than on previous releases is the exceptional production. Overall an ambiance of sweat and grime pervades the atmosphere of the seemingly low end production despite its clarity. This adds to the heaviness of the music thereby inducing phony tough mosh pit heroics from rabid fans.

Essentially, what fan-boys are going to get out of Devourment on ‘Butcher the Weak' is a straight forward, no frills, brown eye licking that is devoid of masturbation solos, gay clean vocals, and homoerotic acoustic fretwork that will bring a tear to the most hardened commando's eye were he listening to Opeth' ‘Ghost Reveries'. Yet, I cannot get too excited about this release. The reason is that the music is too blatantly perfunctory. This is especially obvious on all the albums tracks. Each song has a spot where it begins with no audible sound except a starting out locomotive style guitar chug, a riff change from a slow chug to a mid range chug, mid chug to slow chug, or a quick bass roll followed by a chug that either takes the listener into the first verse + chug, second verse + chug, chorus + chug, or slamming chug portion of the song. Then after the slam one gets another chug and its back to the remaining verses backed by chugs. Sometimes the drumming is fast and other times its slow but it all basically sounds like a variance of the same thing except for track 4 where the listener gets a bit of Dave Suzuki type snare work from the Vital Remains song and album ‘Dechristianize'. Ironically, all guitar chugging is held together by the drums. Another form of repetition is track 8, which is a newer version of “Baby Killer” found on ‘1.3.8.'  Bottom line: count up the amount of times I've used “chug” in this review then raise it to the 10th power for ‘Butcher the Weak' and you'll get a graphic understanding of the repetition.     

I don't mind simplicity or duplication (I love AC-DC and Cannibal Corpse) but with ‘Butcher the Weak' it is overmuch. With these guys I truly get the impression that they like many other bands are guilty of that trend of the 80's and 90's where style is far more important than substance. Really there are only 2 things that save this work from being extraneous. The first is that Devourment is arguably the originators of the slamming Broootal Death genre. This means that they play their music with a passion and zeal that supercedes the repetitive music found on this disc. The second is that in contrast to bands like Born Headless or Stabwound who have made an obvious effort to emulate the sound from the album ‘Molesting the Decapitated', Devourment has a fat reverberation that I tend to find agreeable despite being unoriginal. When I hear their music I cannot help but bang my head and dream of a few spins in a pit to relieve some tension. More importantly I find myself allured strangely to their music despite its pertinacious chugging. This is due to their straight forward ability to embody the same brutality one would find at a homicide scene where a ball pin hammer was the weapon of choice. Does Devourment get constant spins in my disc player, are they more annoying than Artery Eruption, and would I choose their music over Brodequin? No, no, and no, and while I can listen to them about once a month, I'm also not going to do any bitching if this disc gets melted on my dashboard. Buy this CD if you are a collector or a fan but recognize that Devourment is guilty of being a tad overrated. 

March 28th, 2006