Review of The Berzerker - Dissimulate

Let me start off by saying that the first two words that came out of my mouth when listening to this were "holy shit", no joke. Right from the start after the first sample, the unbridled assault begins. The Berzerker is the perfect name for this band. These Australians know how to get across their message with a barrage of unbridled death metal. The band chooses to wear masks and only be know through the name of their instruments (i.e. The Drummer of The Berzerker, The Singer of The Berzerker, etc.) to give the feel of the band as a whole and not of individual members. The Berzerker throw an interesting twist at you, their drum sound has a very electronic feel to it. At first because of the speed I thought these drums were programmed, but they're not. The drummer of The Berzerker uses a distortion on his bass drums which adds a bit of an industrial element to the music. The Berzerker is all about speed, although there are some slower parts found on Dissimulate, they still maintain heaviness. As I mentioned above, these drums are fast, some of the fastest, if not the fastest, I've ever heard. You can find examples of The Drummer of The Berzerker's speed throughout the album. He's not very technical, but he must have the endurance of a triathlon competitor. Sometimes you'll swear you're hearing a machine gun on this recording, and that's not an exaggeration. He's not the only one with speed, The Guitarist of the Berzerker, The Bassist of The Berzerker, and The Singer of the Berzerker do their best to keep up with him. A perfect example would be the track "Death Reveals" where all the band members are going neck and neck with the speed. To me, The Berzerker seems like a giant entity, which is kind of the way I feel about Meshuggah. The musicianship is so tight I just imagine the music coming from a giant machine. The production on this album is pretty good, except I have one complaint. Sometimes the drums have a bit of that "beating on a tin can" feel to them. I noticed it most listening to the album on my discman, but on my system at home it didn't really bother me at all. The lyrics are pretty cool too. I like the first song, Disregard, where they question the notion of whether or not cannibalism is that bad. This is an album I have a feeling I'll be pulling out time and time again. The speed matched with the insanity found here will always keep my ears open, not to mention the often hilarious and odd samples before many of the songs. You also get a cool cover of Carcass' "Corporal Jigsore Quandry". I would recommend this to those who like their metal fast. The beast from Australia known as The Berzerker is laying in wait, ready to strike come October 15. You've been warned. . .

Release Details

The Berzerker

Dissimulate

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