Cinerary
Rituals of Desecration
7.1
Cinerary consists of an "all-star" line-up for those of us metal maniacs who are currently up to date on their brutal death metal. If you haven't heard of Matti Way, then listen to some Disgorge. If you haven't heard of Disgorge, then go back to the mall and pick up the latest release from Creed……Disgorge stormed onto the brutal death metal scene several years back w/ their own brand of blasphemous/gore earth-shaking death metal (to which, after my first few listens, was deemed as almost unlistenable, due to it's unreal vocals & the unbelievably speedy technical chunky guitar blasts, and less than stellar production). Matti Way was the vocalist for this hideous beast of a band, and at the time, was the owner of the most gutteral vocal performance I had ever heard. Since then, he has apparently parted ways w/ Disgorge, and has merged his lyrical and vocal services w/ Danny "Wrench" Louise, former guitarist of the now defunct Incestuous. Also in the mix is Jamie Bailey, bassist from the absolutely thunderous brutal death band Brodequin. Also, Ricky Myers has tagged along from Disgorge on percussion to drive this bands 1st recording to a surprisingly respectable level in my eyes….. Since there are no previous efforts from Cinerary, I may have a tendency to measure individual progress according to each member's former/main band's works. I do own Incestuous' "Brass Knuckle Abortion", and I can tell you that Danny "Wrench" Louise's guitar skills have improved to a shocking degree. Obviously, to match Matti's vocal onslaught, the guitars had to be tuned down at least a step. The guitars are relatively speed driven and have a good range, as far as keeping the listener's ear interested goes. "Wrench"'s ability to keep the riffs good 'n tight has remained, but his use of natural & artificial harmonics has increased greatly, and it sounds awesome. Melding the natural harmonics w/ the pummeling chunk-breakdowns is a formula that wins the gold in my book. Speed, groove, and eerie harmonical hell bells are displayed here in top form. Matti's vocals seem to be a little….."cleaned up"…..from his Disgorge days. Now, by that I mean that he retains his ultra-toilet low end, but it just seems more under control and, dare I say, more…..enunciated? It could be that the mixing was just done better on this disc. Nonetheless, Matti's groupies will not be sporting a frown after this performance graces their ears. The most notable increase in performance here has to be Ricky Myers' skins display. The double-bass seems to almost be a little too dominant, at times drowning out "Wrench"'s interesting guitar fills. It all depends what you listen to it on. But Ricky has a much-improved ability to control his relentless blast-beats. Very punishing display on percussion here, and much more distinguished and "streamlined" than any previous Disgorge effort he has been a part of. The general shortness of this release (6 songs, 7 w/ the "bonus track") is about the only "detractor factor" that really comes to mind for me. Granted, it is basically a demo for them, but during my countless hours of surfing the net in search of fresh brutal death metal, I do see it being sold for the regular cost of a full-length album, and I guess that just doesn't really fly well w/ me. But I really am looking forward to a full-length release from these guys, because from what I hear on "Rituals of Desecration", dominant forces in the death metal field have managed to come together and put out something really worth checking out here. Brutal death metal fans MUST check this out. I'm sure once you get your hands on it, you won't be letting go very soon.
