Slam has evolved so much in the time I’ve been a fan. I’ve witnessed the rise and fall and eventual amalgamation and borderline acceptance of Deathcore. I’ve seen Slam go from a silly little genre into a worldwide household Metal community term. Do you know what all that experience has done to me? It’s made a gristly and grumpy turd, who ironically is all miffed because ‘Slam isn’t as fun anymore’, it was my thing man! Why did you have to take it away!

Anyway with my clearly miserable opinion of the current Slam scene and constant want for the ‘next big thing’ I will willingly lap up any Slam residue that I can find. As such in comes Cystectomy, yep, another ‘ectomy’ they’re an international project which is like the equivalent of a one-man Black Metal band in the Slam world, the kind of thing that would amaze you ten years ago and now you just accept it as fact. Anyway, this trio have worked their way onto the Comatose Music roster, probably mostly due to Oscar Ortega’s influence through his many, many projects. They bring to us now their debut full length, Deprive To Hollowness.

Cue needless ‘epic’ introduction, this is Slam BDM not Symphonic Black Metal. At least it’s short lived and Incorporeal Ontologies cracks on with the barbarity. The drums really strike me as the high point here. Vocally it’s a standard affair with little variation and range, which you could call more traditional or you could just call tried and tested. The guitars are in a similar vein and truth be told, without those drums this album would be as generic as they come. Post Life Amnesia brings a nice Slam game to the table but it’s nothing I haven’t heard before, this is an album where you get what it says on the tin, in this case hollowness.

Don’t take me the wrong way as with many generic releases it isn’t bad, give me ten pints and a bit of this and I’ll be set off. The trouble is I’m currently sober and thinking about all the Slam bands that I much prefer, you know like Cephalotripsy, Kraanium, Amputated, I could go on. Honestly not a single track really stands out from one another, especially so in the second half. I don’t mean to sound defeated but I don’t really need to justify my thoughts on the bland nature of this album any further with specific songs. One thing it does get right is it is short, I’m not even saying that in a ‘thank god it’s short’ way either, like truly that is praise, Slam albums should be snappy and to the point, so well done there at least.

So you’ve got another ‘ectomy’ to add to the endless pile, you’ve got some dull artwork and finally some standard ass Slam. As I opened with saying Slam has lost an element of fun. Bands like Cystectomy seem to be taking themselves more ‘seriously’ and I just don’t have time for that. Colpocleisis is probably one of the best modern Slam acts as far as I’m concerned, killer music backed up with silly samples and brilliant live performances. Slam isn’t art, Slam is caveman, brain dead, stupid, entertaining music, and that’s what we need to bring back! In the wise words of some friends of mine less chat, more splat!

(4/10 George Caley)

https://www.facebook.com/cystectomy

https://comatosemusic.bandcamp.com/album/deprive-to-hollowness