Centripetal Force – Eidetic

Despite thrash metal’s nearly 35-year existence, it still remains one subgenre of metal with a relatively limited scope. There are tons of original bands in the style, but most of the newer ones tend to avoid the more experimental and exploratory sounds. In particular, the technical brand of power/thrash pioneered by gods like Toxik, Watchtower, Realm, and others has been largely ignored. Fortunately, international group Centripetal Force seeks to bring back this sound with their debut EP “Eidetic”.

Truthfully, this release is all over the place. It spends much of its time thrashing with appropriate force, but features a wild, wailing singer who is not afraid to go after notes that make little sense. Toxik is the best point of comparison because both bands feature singers that are effective due to their sheer absurdity. They almost sound like cartoon characters at times. Musically, there is a similar lack of focus. “Centripetal Force” in particular goes all over the place, jumping between strange interludes, more traditional thrashy riffing, and then uber-technical moments. And though it all feels disjointed, it works so well because it is original. Admittedly, this isn’t music you’re likely to latch onto the first time you hear it, but there is a certain understated brilliance to the band’s sound. 

“Eidetic” is far too ambitious for its own good. Centripetal Force does have a lot of potential however. They would benefit from simplifying their song structures considerably. Keeping the technical element, but discarding the “randomness” of it, seems like a surefire way to create a more coherent, upper-tier thrash release. As it stands, “Eidetic” is nonetheless very impressive. Put it this way: if you listened to 100 songs from various modern thrash bands, Centripetal Force is unquestionably the one that will stand out the most! For better or worse, that’s a great quality to have in a crowded field.

Be sure to check out and like Centripetal Force on Facebook!

Highlight

"Eidetic Memory"

Final Rating

4.0/5 or 80%. 

Born Undead – Violator of Humanity

Death metal is truly some twisted stuff. The old-school stuff from the 80’s and early 90’s is always fun because of its horror-movie-esque approach, but it seems like some of the newer bands have really amped things up in terms of ridiculousness. Among them is Born Undead, an international (UK/France) project that provides absolutely putrid sounding death metal. Their first release, “Violator of Humanity”, while not quite brutal death metal (it is a lot less one-dimensional than brutal death metal), is definitely on that side of the subgenre. Surprisingly though, Born Undead injects catchiness and memorability into their music. The title track of this release has a repeated vocal pattern that is the kind of thing you can growl along to (in the same way that you’d sing along to Morbid Angel, for example). The end of this song shows the band taking a different direction, with some twisted harmonized guitars. Though a bit of a sharp turn at first, this section settles in nicely, showing homage to Autopsy, with its creepy, cemetery-like atmosphere.

The other songs are more in the brutal death metal vein. Blast beats are used more often, the grunting seems to be lower and less decipherable, and the emphasis is on crushing the listener under the weight of the music. The band’s emphasis on melody is not entirely lost though; “Revenge of the Necrovore” and "Undead Torment" both feature guitar solos amidst the carnage that the rest of the track causes. With that said, much of the band’s time is spent in more pummeling fashion. Born Undead is definitely more bearable within this style. Not only because of the aforementioned unique elements, but also because they lack a tinny production and constant snare drum abuse. Monotony is inherent to brutal death metal, which is why a band like Born Undead succeeds by bringing in new components to the style. Ultimately, “Violator of Humanity” is certainly a step above most brutal death metal because of the variety is provides.

Be sure to check out and like Born Undead on Facebook!

Highlights

"Violator of Humanity"

Final Rating

3.5/5 or 70%. 

Written by Scott

Halberd – Remnants of Crumbling Empires

Featuring members from all over the world, Halberd is an international death/doom project that recently released their first full-length album. These 4 tracks span 40 minutes, and while there is plenty of doom, “Remnants of Crumbling Empires” has some other interesting things to offer as well. The opening song, “Northern Bloodletting”, features symphonic orchestrations underneath some of the doomier passages. In addition, the band can really hit the speed when they need to. They don’t really approach the speed of some of the faster death metal bands out there, but they give enough of a boost that the record has some variety in it. It’s similar to how Autopsy does the death/doom, only Halberd puts more emphasis on the doom than they do. With that said, the first two songs are much faster than the last two. “Barghash’s Poison” barely goes into slower passages, instead opting for a more typical death metal song. It works here because it’s only 5 minutes, and it’s a great change of pace before the last 2 behemoth tracks on the album. “Northern Bloodletting” also features a pretty upbeat solo section, but immediately reverts back to crushing doom. The drumming is huge, and when combined with the symphonics, gives off a cavernous feel.

The final two tracks on “Remnants of Crumbling Empires” take a bit of a different approach from the other two. They are longer, slower, and bring a lot more dread. Interestingly, towards the end of “Ignorance of Morbidity”, there are some great epic leads. The song fades out on a solo, which is a bit disappointing because it’s the best part of the song, and things were really clicking at that point. Likewise, the final track, “Dead Horses Cavalry” also fades out, and once again, it does so at the best moment of the song. The riff in the final minute and a half of this tune is the most impressive on the album, and it will be stuck in your head all day. This is likely why this song fades out: to leave the listener wanting more. 

From a production standpoint, this album is pretty impressive. The mix isn’t clean, but it’s easy to understand what’s going on. It has just the right amount of sickness for something in this style. Vocally, Halberd does it all. There are disgustingly low gutturals, higher screams, and all sorts of twisted sounds. There’s even some narration later on in the record. The bass playing isn’t particularly prominent, but there’s enough low end on the album already. Overall, the sound of this album is quite fitting to its theme. Death/doom is not a favourite style of mine, but Halberd shows that, when done properly, it is quite effective. At the end of the day, the quality of riffs is what is important, and Halberd delivers that time and again on this record.

Be sure to check out and like Halberd on Facebook!

Highlights

"Ignorance of Morbidity"

"Dead Horses Cavalry"

Final Rating

4.3/5 or 86%. 

Written by Scott