This Maryland-based band's second album, from 1998, combines downtuned, squealing death metal in the vein of
Suffocation with occasional outbursts of grindcore. Vocalist/guitarist John Gallagher, the group's founding and sole remaining original member, is joined on this disc by guitarist Brian Latta, bassist Jason Netherton, and drummer Kevin Talley, who's gone on to quite a career as an extreme metal hired gun, playing with
the Black Dahlia Murder,
Chimaira,
Dååth,
Cattle Decapitation,
Hate Eternal,
Decrepit Birth, and many other bands. The sound on this reissue is as clean as a death metal album from 1998 can possibly sound, with the guitars a buzzing roar, the bass barely present, and the drums a lightning-fast rattle in the back. Talley's a great player with a sense of groove and a suppleness even when blasting away at top speed, and he provides a solid foundation for Gallagher and Latta to riff away atop. Gallagher's vocals are a guttural grumble/growl, only occasionally decipherable (the phrase "on the White House lawn" pops up during "Procreate the Malformed," making the listener wonder what he or she may have missed earlier in the song) but always oddly captivating, even when he just sounds like a very large dog throwing up. This is a record with absolutely nothing to offer anyone not already in love with death metal, but fans of the genre will find much to like. ~ Phil Freeman