Pyaemia
Cerebral Cereal

It is a true honor for me to review this album: "Ah si? Embè? E allora? So what?" you might say, thinking it's just another leftover picked up in a failed mail order two hours after purchase. But you're wrong, that's obvious, otherwise there would be no reason to say all these useless nonsense. But what is so special about this little disc here?

Ah, do not ask me, I don't have the faintest idea; however, I have found that it is one of the few albums that barely sold a few thousand copies to be universally pointed to as a masterpiece by the various flocks of Homines (NonSatis)Sapientes Brutallarenses. Worse still; like Demilich (albeit considerably inferior), Pyaemia were true meteors in the Brutal Death Metal scene and after the release of “Cranial Blowout” (a demo) and this CD in 2001, they disbanded and vanished into the mist (this was from Signora in giallo). The reasons for this decision can be traced back to the serious injury that struck the band's drummer, whose abilities were permanently compromised; this sad story led his (never a more appropriate term) bandmates to decide to put an end to the Pyaemia experience (despite, I repeat, their great success).

Apart from this beautiful gesture, these Dutch guys have left more or less an indelible mark in the history of Brutal Death, an indelibility that at first might seem exaggerated. Listening to "Cerebral Cereal" for the first time, one might get the impression of having already heard what the four played, but to a trained ear, some unusual details do not escape that, when summed together, perhaps explain the album's success. To start with, the sound is a strange coupling between Floridian Brutal Death (Cannibal Corpse, Monstrosity etc.) and the New York style (Suffocation, Dying Fetus, with noticeable influences from the latter) that not only represents an oddity in itself but is particularly singular on a geographical level; indeed, bands from this area are generally devoted to Death Grind (Prostitute Disfigurement, Aborted, Leng T' Che) or traditional Death (Sinister, Gorefest), but very few actually play Brutal Death.

To be clear, Pyaemia do very little new, yet the little they do, they do so well that they deserve a place among the "greats" with this sole "Cerebral Cereal"; if one can call it innovation, it comes especially on the technical level as they partially subvert the genre's structures with unheard-of ideas. Especially the late drummer, behind the drums, reveals himself to be a real phenomenon and gives life to fabulous drumming. Alongside the usual blast beat, he inserts ridiculous rolls, impactful passages, balancing act numbers and whatever else might be needed to create a dynamic structure without falling into mere display of skills. Obviously, he doesn't do the "dirty work" alone, but is amply aided by the bassist; do not expect (only) the recurrent bass breaks found in the records of some Death Metal "big" bands (Cryptopsy, Gorguts, and a thousand others), here the parts themselves are very complicated and, above all, very audible. It's not uncommon to hear the bass following guitar riffing with millimetric precision (for example, in "Impaled On Stakes") nor appreciate it while fulfilling its "gap filler" function in a more than personal manner.

Somewhat more predictable is the riffing, which remains anchored to the classic style of the bands mentioned at the beginning: that of the guitarist remains a good performance but slightly bland, and ultimately it tires quite quickly. The growling of the singer requires a similar discussion, powerful and furious but devoid of variations that would not have spoiled in such a context. Excellent production, typically "Old Style" and very filtered but simultaneously clean and not confusing. Incredible, however, is both the performance skill of these debutants and their compositional ability; despite this being their first true LP, Pyaemia demonstrate the ability to structure songs in a noteworthy manner, particularly knowing how to handle the typical slowing-downs and accelerations of Brutal Death well. Despite this, some tracks are not so inspired and certainly inferior to their potential capabilities. Unfortunately, no one will ever know how their style would have evolved if their combination of the ferocity of the Floridian sound and the power of the Big Apple's sound would have yielded good results or not (although one can get an idea from their "protégés," the Brutus).

A good group prematurely disappeared that deserved the success they had but needed someone to set limits: to talk about a masterpiece is hazardous, but certainly "Cerebral Cereal" deserves to be remembered.