In existence since 2007, having been born out of another band, Indonesia’s Demented Heart now release their second full album. The fare is technical death metal. It promises to be brutal.
When reading the accompanying description that came with this album, I read the phrase “machines of death”. Machine-like is what this is like from beginning to end. Away goes the locomotive at speed, thundering down the track with twisty technical riffs, speeding up, inserting a bit of bass, but always hurtling forward with the figurative wind whistling alongside the machine. It’s intricate and brutal. The vocalist does his growly stuff. The drummer is going hard at it. Solos are weaved into the advancing juggernaut. I am shaking and vibrating in keeping with the technical metal rhythms. Have no fear though – the machine won’t come off its moorings as the quartet making up Demented Heart are solidly in control. There is subtlety in the patterns and there are momentary breakdowns but it’s a relentless advance. Sparks fly. “Incitement to Violence” may be reflected in the lyrics – always hard to tell with death metal growls – but my impression was of a technical feast rather than the message of its title. Likewise with “Terror and Destruction” but I will concede that this particular piece of abrasive metal assault does have destructive qualities. Round and round we go in a swirl of technicality from one battering to the next, smoothly infused with solos and ever so subtle changes of direction. Like an emitting gas supply, in theory at least, the flow is uninterrupted. It is unstoppable. A moment of nastiness enters “Abnormal Funeral” but the groove, if I may call, it that is unaltered, just getting deeper and deeper. The machine must be red hot by now. There’s no sign of it seizing up. Demented Heart have oiled it well and keep it fast, hard and brutal.
For the duration of 31 minutes “Frantic Epidemic” amounts to a juddering technical death metal attack. Although I enjoyed it, I’m glad it didn’t last longer. The pattern is the same throughout, with small variations to the line of attack. To its credit, this album is tight and skilful on a technical level, while from a listener’s point of view it’s impressively intense and invigorating.
(7/10 Andrew Doherty)
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