I have read some people branding this band as old school Death Metal in the vein of
Obituary.. well honestly the 2 seconds where the comparison might withstand is at the beginnning of the song "Wounds of Confusion", and then again I think these vocals are closer to Christian Mertens in the debut of
Dark Millenium (what an album is that one) than any John Tardy's. Anyway...
The Everscathed play nice old school Thrash/Death Metal, souding like an American band which is still passing the transition between the two genres in the early 90's. No shadow of
Obituary's heavily
Celtic Frost - worshipping droning dismal sound is present, but for sure there is a dose of solid riffs that succeed in remaining in a classic mid tempo without sounding weak just like the band from Brandon, which is quite rare nowadays and I bet quite difficult to arrange as well. I am afraid however that they miss the wrapping, dark sound I loved so much in other earlier 90's Death Metal bands like
Decrepit,
Baphomet,
Rotrrevore etc.so we end up having something like a light version of Death Metal which resides in a strange limbo: neither dark, nor brutal, not groovy nor fast, yet none of the songs are also banal nor stupid, I'd prefere to say ther're an excellent, heavier Thrash Metal band more than a standard Death Metal one. Any bad remarks would be unfair since the vocals are good (hey check out the hidden "Aggressive Perfector" cover at the end, those vocals are amazing!!) and the song structures effective while very simple. Who knows what would have happened with slightly different sounds, for example with
Grave's guitar sound and Jorgen's vocal tune... Again, this album is a good example of straight to the point sincere early Death Metal, but suffers from being painfully middle ground on all fronts. Mid-range vocals, mid-range speed, mid-range distortion (with a headstrong accent on the bass guitar) etc. I feel there is a good potential for advancement but yet there is something that still needs to develop. This is a good choice for lovers of earlier Death Metal more oriented towards song structures than a brutal sound, I think it would be good for people who used to like bands as
Abominog, Los Angeles'
Incubus, maybe
Deceased or the more recent
Occult. The cover artwork and packaging are also sooo deliciously nineties as well. Very simple but not minimalistic, just plain old school. The production is too crisp but then the textures are so wide and clear it would not have suffered much from anything less perfect than this.
Tracks (10): 1 - Overthrow the Sphere of Existence 2 - Raging in Unrest 3 - Hated Glory 4 - Wounds of Confusion 5 - Surgical Theater 6 - The Everscathed 7 - Evil Bleeds On 8 - Shackled by Failure 9 - Cries of Damnation's Rebirth 10 - To the Place of Death Begotten [hidden: 11 - Aggressive Perfector (Slayer Cover)]