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Rating:
The darkest side of Brutal Death Metal; this is, in a few words, the essence of this album. Released in 2001 by Relapse Records (after a noteworthy debut recently remastered titled “Progressions Toward Evil”), this release went pretty much unnoticed and still receives far fewer tributes than it should, in my opinion. Alas, it has remained an unrepeatable episode in the career of the four New Yorkers who, if previously dedicated to a demented Brutal Gore (although already very heavy and dark), are now in an evolutionary phase that leads them to more technical and less powerful territories.
The album in question is composed of nine very, very varied and absolutely distinguishable tracks, which is not very common among underground bands. The peculiarities of the entire album, which set it apart from the clichés of the genre, are in my opinion the unparalleled power (thanks to a perfect production) and the darkness that flows in abundance: darkness, I repeat, claustrophobia, dark and gloomy sounds for equally disheartening lyrics that steer away from splatter to focus on the misery of life and the world.
You won't find a single solo to somewhat ease the tension and few accelerations to make it a bit more fluid: although the compositional aspect is clearly manicured to a fault, the songs are played at never too hurried tempos, favoring compactness over speed. To further enhance the sense of desolation, there are some lyrics of such macabre and acidic humor that, instead of making you laugh, they increase the idea of the bleakness of human life.
A work that to be fully appreciated must also be faced on a thematic level, a work in which instrumental technique (though used appropriately) takes a back seat to make way for a mood that does not fill the soul with anger, not with hatred, not with despair nor with depression: only with darkness.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
03 The Optimist (05:44)
Life sucks, and then you die
Here lies our fate, a bleakly stained disgrace
A cross between two worlds of liberty and hate
Nothing is forgone, we'll never see the dawn
Accept the consequence and kill the optimist
Banished, feel the scream, end of dreams
All is lost, all is lost...
Indiscretly bludgeoning the motion of our former selves
Subtlety has been erased, anarchy's in it's place
Gods have fallen, hate is calling, witness the fall of enlightened souls
Follow that instinctual urge, satanic freedom, Hell on Earth
Supressed feeling you've had since birth
Is ripping from beneath your skin
Abomination you've held within
Awakening, to a world without restriction
Freedom, escape the land of pain
Solution, sights set on suicide, eternity lies in question
Life is nothing but a failed intention
Silencing, erasing the voice of reason
Victimize, execute the pure of soul
Ecstacy is born in the blood of revenge
Horrify the weak, a reflection of themselves
Indiscretly bludgeoning the motion of our former selves
Subtlety has been erased, anarchy's in it's place
Gods have fallen, hate is calling, witness the fall of enlightened souls
Follow that instinctual urge, satanic freedom, Hell on Earth
Supressed feeling you've had since birth
Is ripping from beneath your skin
Abomination you've held within
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