Cadaver
Hallucinating Anxiety

We have now reached the fifth episode of "Exploring Forgotten Death Metal" and I want to stay in Norway; last time I talked about Darkthrone and how they were initially quite different from what they are now. Discussing "Hallucinating Anxiety" might further challenge the well-established Norway-Black Metal connection.

Cadaver was formed in 1988, died in 1992, and resurrected in 2000 under the name Cadaver Inc (similar to what Cancer did and with equally unsuccessful results given the anachronistic offer); however, from 1989, the year their first demo was released, until 1992, they can be said to have contributed to the birth of Death in Europe. The album in question dates back to 1990, the same year as "Soulside Journey" and "Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism" by fellow Norwegians Immortal. These three albums have in common the fact of being three Semi-Death albums released in the same year in a place with no connection to this genre. A couple of years later, the Black movement would explode which, let's admit it, continues to be the dominant genre in Norway. Not only that, but Immortal and Darkthrone would become spokespeople for the Black Flame, and Cadaver would also be influenced by the emerging genre for their subsequent, historic LP "In Pains".

As often happens, this band is continually overlooked when it comes to the history of Death, although it has indeed played an important role and is still considered a cult band by some. Personally, I find the band's artistic value quite low; in fact, I believe that Cadaver's good songs can be counted on the fingers of one hand. However, I cannot deny their impact on the advancement (mind you, not the evolution) of this genre even here in the old continent.

I should note that one shouldn’t expect great things from Cadaver since in reality, speaking of Death Metal is, if not entirely a stretch, at least an inaccuracy; if one excludes the presence of Blast Beat, the Growl (in my opinion terrible and sometimes choked) and some harsher riffs, it could very well be said to be a particularly aggressive Thrash album. Let’s say that some tracks by Slayer or Testament have nothing to envy in terms of power and aggressiveness to the riffing of this "Hallucinating Anxiety". The subsequent work, as I mentioned, with some Black influences and decidedly colder "melodies", will be quite different. Here instead remains that darned incivility of the Thrasher, those hard guitars, that garage recording. In short, a work closer to Death Metal for sound rather than approach. Luckily, some blind (and in my view ugly) fury typical of the nascent Grindcore, made up of simple but very fast riffs and a swaying blast that causes seasickness, come to the rescue.

The structure of the songs is generally this: a good guitar attack that promises heaven and earth, a pointless acceleration, a decent slowdown, the same slowdown that starts to bore, the same slowdown that has now annoyed you, another good riff, another pointless acceleration, a pointless slowdown, a decent slowdown, a pointless acceleration, a good riff, and a shout from the singer. In short, you’re always on the verge of falling asleep when "the antichrist comes and brings the riff"; joking aside, just when everything seems lost, Cadaver manages to finish the songs in a dignified way satisfying those who want kicks to the teeth. The drummer (who is also the singer) doesn’t do much, indeed, apart from the Blast Beat, there is nothing technical about it; he’s a bit reminiscent of that guy Chris Refeirt from Autopsy, only that at least he preached the philosophy of things done poorly, Cadaver doesn’t. The same can be said for the guitarist, the "mind" of the group who might just as well have done gardening instead of playing guitar; many riffs seem randomly thrown together and others seem copied from someone else. But that’s where this group’s genius lies, because their tracks, although they feel old, boring, and cliché, haven’t been copied from anyone; they invented boring Death songs themselves (not only, but here we’re talking about them). The bass, I’m not exaggerating, can be heard three times in twelve tracks, and the lack is felt; the drums, as if that weren’t enough, are poorly recorded (the snare sounds like the bass drum, and the bass drum sounds like the floor tom).

But if you love old metal or if you love old and new Death, all this can be forgiven; I would gladly give them a two, but by doing so it might seem I’m stripping them of historical value. May the world never forget who Cadaver was and what they did for Death Metal. Once again I can’t find other words to describe them except historic.