Review of Goretrade - Ritual Of Flesh

Finally, MetalReview has been blessed w/ real “Supreme ColAHHHHmbian Brutality”! It’s GORETRADE! Now that I’ve equaled the hype that was presented to me in the form of spam in my mailbox, we can get down to the question of is there anything worthy here?

Sort of. About 2 years ago I’d have eaten this up. It’s abrasive, guttural, and lives to open up the chunk-breaks. Colombian brutal blasters Goretrade are a “side project” of sorts of certain members of Internal Suffering, also from ColAHHHmbia. If you know Internal Suffering’s work, then don’t expect anything astray from that w/ Goretrade. As w/ many underground BDM bands, the production doesn’t do their music any favors. It’s thick, but there’s absolutely no textural variation at all. Like setting an EQ at flat and leaving it there for the entire recording process. I can see how people who hate the sound of Deeds’ snare will despise this, but somehow it doesn’t sway me. It’s got that tribal “dancing barefoot around a crackling bonfire” snap & tightness to it. I like the tone, but I do hear the double-kick missing in a few spots. Obviously the beats are not exactly slow but you can just tell when the bass drum hits a little off time in some spots. Guitar work is basic brutal death; no real surprises, no extremely memorable riffs (although I will admit to putting “Ritual of Flesh” on repeat for a little while), and I think every breakdown here has been done by Suffocation at least once. They’re cool, and heavy, but breakdowns are becoming more common than Boeing 747 airplane spoilers on 4-door import cars. They’re done so emphatically, but truthfully they induce the yawns more than the grimace nowadays. Am I getting bored w/ brutal death? Maybe. It depends on how it’s done I guess. If it’s a streamlined powerhouse like Decrepit Birth or Disgorge who defy anything traditional or “proper” and do it in a professional presentation, then fuck no, I never get bored w/ that. Problem is, Goretrade’s music is pretty much adhering to the basic formula and loses necessary potency very early. With the exception of 2 songs I think it’s safe to switch the song order around on the album and it would go about as noticed as the top 10 list in Rolling Stone magazine. I’d be oblivious.

Goretrade can find a home in the right hands. I know that for a fact because I used to live for this shit. People who reject anything “accessibly” produced or anything on a household record label tend to search the underground scene for the “real shit”. There’s a list of bands similar to Goretrade that I can give you as an easy reference guide: Brodequin, Internal Suffering, Devourment, Repudilation, Regurgitation, Foetopsy, Dyscrasia, Reinfection…you people who know these bands get the idea. As the scores will reflect, I do firmly believe it’s an average album for the genre. Not bad, but not good enough to really recommend. Their musicianship and songwriting needs to improve if they want to rise up in what has become an ocean of blast beat-breakdown formulaic brutal death bands.

Release Details

Goretrade

Ritual Of Flesh

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