Lay To Waste
Self Titled
8.1
I really can’t resist raving about this release. Lay to Waste combine the brutal blasting assault typical of the Dutch scene, the punishing grooves perpetuated by American outfits like Goratory, and occasional spazzy upper fretboard runs that one might expect from one of the more “tech” groups out there. The fact that brutal death metal is my favorite genre makes me pretty biased, but this stuff is downright awesome. Lay to Waste’s self titled effort is a powerful, energetic, and confident outing that is sure to win the band new fans.
Axeman Ryan Ragas is very good, which comes as no surprise considering the fact that he runs a custom shop and has built guitars for players such as Erik Lindmark of Deeds of Flesh and Alan Glassman of the aforementioned Goratory; you have to assume that he’s pretty familiar with the instrument. Lay to Waste’s drummer, Greg, is also noteworthy, as he plays insanely precisely at some pretty fast tempos. You can expect to hear the perfect fusion of guitars and percussion that one expects from bands like Decapitated. The static-y, somewhat distorted vocals may not be to everybody’s liking, but I feel that they mesh pretty well with the other stuff that is going on. I have to admit that I can’t really hear the bass too well, but on the whole, the production is pretty good. I may be wrong, but I think that the last track, “Ruptured,” is the band’s newest recording, which is odd considering that the production on it is a step down from the others. Still, they did a pretty good job on the whole.
I’ll try to outline what goes on as far as songwriting, but for the most part it’s exactly what one would expect for this kind of release. The tempo is very fast and it doesn’t often let up, even during the groove sections. The compositions are twisting and fluid, and none of the transitions are jarring or poorly thought out. It’s pretty much nonstop high quality deathgrind, and that’s that.
Lay to Waste is an extremely good band, and I’m sure that they will eventually be a big name in the deathgrind scene. This is recommended to anybody who enjoys fast, punishing, and brutal death metal. This is a band to watch.
