Advance Cassette

Two tracks, and both are decent examples of intense thrashing death metal in the vein of Dark Angel, or perhaps the first Deicide LP. This sound typlified the mid to late 1980s thrash/death metal scene. It wasn't really the sound that Immortal Fate became known for, but this is their first effort and it is good for what it is.

Fast riffs, executed with very heavy distorted, chugging guitars typlify these two songs. There is a churning, thrashing energy present here which really carries the day. The second track is the better of the two. Sound wise, it is not that far removed from what Testament or Forbidden was doing at the time (late 1980s) but these guys were heavier, less melodic and less compromising than those other bands.

To play this style of music well, and to elevate a tape like this to the must-have, truely memorable release category, you have to really hit all your marks. These guys hit some of them. But miss others, which lets it down. The guitar sound is good thrashcore distortion and totally rips. Its not the grindcore/detuned madness we would later become accustomed to by these guys, but it is effective nonetheless. But Jay Perez's bass cannot really be heard, hence the production sounds a bit too thin and trebly. His brother Josh, who handles vocals, sounds completely flat and toneless, which detracts from the overall sound as well. On later recordings, he would adopt a grindcore/deathcore growl that would work to great effect, but I'm not sure that would have helped here; because it wouldnt have suited the musical style they were playing at this point.

Also, while some of the riffs are decent, most of them just arent that memorable, at least not to the point where you are blown away, and want to hear the tracks over and over. "Decent" is still decent. Its's just not "great." if you get my drift. And that sort of sums up my feelings of this tape overall. I would still reccomend it to fans of the really heavy, thrashing 80's death metal and I do listen to it occasionally when I need a fix for that sound. But there are a lot better bands out there who sounded like this. And I should add, if you really want to know what Immortal Fate are about, skip this one and get "Submerged in Delusion" or try tracking down their full length LP (good luck with that one, ha ha) This tape isnt really representative of the downtuned grind/death/sludgy madness they would pioneer later on.