If you were to make a "death metal checklist," all of the genre's prerequisites are met on the 2008 release by
Abysmal Dawn,
Programmed to Consume. In case you're unfamiliar with what these basics are, they would include guttural growls so deep they might make the Cookie Monster envious, metronome-perfect drumming,
Slayer-esque riffing and soloing, blazing fast tempos, etc. The Los Angeles-based quartet has been slugging it out since 2003, and five years into
Abysmal Dawn's career, they have turned into a band that can match pretty much any other group in the genre. And while musically and sonically they may sound quite similar to other extreme metal bands, judging from their song titles they do not succumb to the expected "Satan is the greatest" themes; in fact, upon first glancing at such titles as "Programmed to Consume," "Aeon Aomegas," and "Cease to Comprehend," you may be led to believe that
Abysmal Dawn could even be a "thinking man's metal" act.