Get a bowl, chuck in a hideous name, yeah, Coathanger Abortion that’ll do. Shall they be American, hell yeah they should be. How about their label? Well, let’s make it someone reliable like Comatose. Okay, there we go a recipe for Brutal Death success. This Tennessee based band throwback to 2000. With their 09 debut Dying Breed being a staple of many a good gore fiends diet. They’re back again though with perhaps their most ambitious album to date Plan C.
Bucking a general Brutal Death Metal trend is the lengthy opening track What Lies Underneath. It’s a mish mash of various traditional and more modern Death Metal ideas. Thrashing guitars with interlaced maniacal borderline Tech and memorable hooks. Add to this some almost totally guttural vocals and you’ve got a product that isn’t entirely different to what you’re used to but odd enough to be interesting. Corpsewood and Dead Walking add to these ideals quite spectacularly. I guess you could say that the release is a touch messy though? I only mean this for the simple fact that it’s kind of not what you expect. You’d probably go into this expecting full blown crushing Slam when in reality it’s pretty damn refined Death Metal.
I have to say whilst it isn’t overtly innovative it is quite the breath of fresh air. Getting into the second half Millville Massacre is nothing but a delight. The riffs in particular continue to be forward thinking and the longer tracks pack more of a punch and give more variation than your average BDM song. Randomly Butchered even has time for a signature Brutal Death sample. Seriously this is brilliantly thought out and well presented for such savage music. It’s the kind of music you can play someone who claims BDM is just full of chug chug style talentless musicians, this is amazing. At the end of the album with Cannibal Crave it’s apparent that the record has run its course, any longer and I think the genius could be lost and the music could begin to feel laboured.
I don’t really want to just call Plan C an entry point into BDM because it’s more than that. It is like an unholy trinity of all that is barbaric and carnage fuelled. It’s a snapshot of Death Metal’s past, present and future. A wonderful combination for new and old fans alike. Do you need to know the bands back catalogue? No, nor do you need to even be a Death Metal fan to fully appreciate this. If your Power Metal loving friend doesn’t ‘get’ Death Metal then show them this (for the record I like Power Metal too).
(9/10 George Caley)
Leave a Reply