| Reviews for Blasphemer (Ita)'s On the Inexistence of God |
| Dizzying display of misanthropic carnage - 80% |
| Written by autothrall
on November 4th, 2009
|
| It's not often that I am happy to have a headache after listening to a death metal album, but this is one of those cases. Italy's Blasphemer have concocted a dizzying display of misanthropic carnage, 10 tracks of nutty brutal death metal. The sound here is not uncommon, extremely tense and brutal with blinding riffs battering you in the face with a ballpeen hammer at any given second. This band is fucking FAST. The bass pops along like Bootsy Collins playing at a million notes per second, you can barely even comprehend what the fuck is going on until you settle into its hyperactive pace. The first offense is "Kuru - Laughing Death" which is aptly named since I feel like a pair of grim reapers are having a joint and looking down on me as i'm being torn limb from limb by some organic flesh pit of hell. "Compulsive Obliteration" must sum up exactly how Blasphemer felt when they decided to record this album, because there will certainly not be much left of any listener to use as forensic evidence. "IX Son" also slays, and then you get to...well, a little surprise to introduce "The Killing Dogma". I'll leave it there. The rest of the album is equally destructive, in particular I'd point out "Nihilist Preachers of Death" and "Dining Upon the Unburied" as choice executions. Stylistically this doesn't diverge much from the rest of the hyper tense brutal death metal scene worldwide, but Blasphemer delivers so much bang for the buck that it's difficult not to become immediately immersed in the paranoid frenzy they create. The vocals are jesus fuck brutal, the instruments move along so fast that you can do little but feel horror as you bob your neck to each little nook and cranny among the labyrinth of notes they create. There may be a few weaker riffs amongst the plentitude here, but you will be so fucking scared you will barely notice. If you like that new Deeds of Flesh disc, or bands like Spawn of Possession, then check this out too. Devastation on disc. -autothrall http://www.fromthedustreturned.com |
| An Exceptional Debut - 95% |
| Written by Gravemarker
on September 28th, 2009
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| Blasphemer: a five piece from Italy that likes to play ripping brutal death metal and dislikes religion. It took them ten years to release a full length album, but it must have been time well spent because “On The Inexistence of God” proves to be one of the standout brutal death records of 2008. Blasphemer’s music is a raging brutal death metal beast with technical guitar work scattered throughout. The music in general is fast, ripping stuff, with some cool diversions like the acoustic, Italian flavored interludes present at the beginning of “The Killing Dogma” and played for the duration of the title track. You’ve got riffs here and there and just about everywhere. Fast, blazing riffs are the meat of most songs, with breakdowns and slower sections thrown in appropriately for an occasional change of pace. On “IX Son” and “Nihilist Preachers of Death” we get some killer bass lines, incorporated into the aforementioned songs in a very BDM way, that sound great. The drumming is all over the place, changing at every turn with the sporadic riffing. The drummer delivers all sorts of blasting, quick fills, and double bass, all done masterfully with awesome speed, complementing the guitars quite nicely. The vocals sound just as good as most brutal death metal band’s, with low grunts, raucous barks, and gutturals that range from “broo” to “bree” and just about everything in between. They sound truly bestial when double layered though, and often during listens I find myself wishing that they had employed that double layering technique more often. The most impressive thing about Blasphemer is that, with all these instruments playing so fast and changing so quickly from one pattern to the next, that they managed to keep everything on “On The Inexistence Of God” coherent. From the ripping “Kuru-Laughing Death” to the final “Outro” everything sounds right in place, exactly how and where it’s supposed to be, and all together, as five pieces becoming one, it just sounds fantastic. Each of these musicians shines individually, but it’s as one collective whole, as the beast that is Blasphemer that they are truly monstrous. Part of the aforementioned coherence that Blasphemer managed to attain on this record can also be partially attributed to the production. Unlike many great brutal death metal records that are hurt by a shoddy or murky production, “On The Inexistence Of God” sounds great production-wise. Everything is clearly defined, no one instrument is hidden in the background or is so loud that it drowns out everything else. This record sounds crisp, without being overproduced, striking a good balance that leaves the record sounding awesome. The one relatively minor drawback is though, that the guitars sound a bit thin. A heavier, thicker guitar tone would have given these songs a meaner, more vicious sound. Once again though, it’s a relatively minor flaw in an otherwise very solid record. Ultimately, Blasphemer’s efforts have amounted to a very successful debut record. “On The Inexistence Of God” is definitely an essential record for any brutal death metal fan. Hopefully Blasphemer’s future releases are as good as this one, because their future in the realm of brutal death metal looks quite promising. |
| Impressive. - 91% |
| Written by theposega
on June 18th, 2009
|
| I first discovered Blasphemer in a Relapse catalog. I was intrigued when it described them as brutal death metal with "a unique four-way guttural vocal attack". Unfortunately, many months went by before I finally checked them out. Anyways, onto the review. This is a very impressive album. There is quite a large amount of technicality in the riffs, but not in the Necrophagist/Brain Drill area of "I PLAY SCALES FOR YOU!". It's like Alex Webster described Cannibal Corpse, "We wanna use the technique to make the songs heavy, not to show off what we can do." I have to talk about the bassist for a bit here; this guy is insane! He has a short little solo at the beginning of "Compulsive Obliteration", and it shows off not only his skill, but his high-quality bass tone. He has a few little fills towards the end of the song and plenty in others as well. It's never about him and his talent, it's more about adding to the song. "The Killing Dogma" starts off with a nice little acoustic interlude that takes up about half the song. The title track is a quick little acoustic interlude as well. It really helps keep the half-hour long bludgeoning from getting too monotone. Speaking of preventing monotony, the vocals on here are very, very diverse. They're mostly your stereotypical brutal death vocals, but when put all together it's just a barrage of brutality. You've got your usual Brodequin-style low gurgles, add in a few pig squeals, a few high screams, a few more traditional sounding low growls, plus plenty of other styles. The riffs on this album remind me a lot of mid-era Deeds of Flesh or newer Inveracity. Somewhat melodic tremolo-picked passages that just obliterate the weak. Somewhat more rare on this album are riffs more reminiscent of Guttural Secrete; much less melodic but heavily brutal and technical. The occasional slam part is thrown in too, making sure that this album entertains all types of brutal death fans. In conclusion, this album slays. 2009 has been a pretty good year so far for brutal death metal, with quality releases from Incinerate, Devourment, Abysmal Torment, and Insidious Decrepancy and a few others on the way. Definitely check this out if you're a fan of any of the bands mentioned in this review (excluding the second paragraph). |