Septicaemia

If you think that bands with non-English lyrics are a bit of a turn-off then don't worry, because in brutal death metal you weren't going to be able to make out the lyrics anyway. As such, 败血症 Septicaemia being Chinese isn't really a problem in that sense, although that would be to overlook the slight difficulties you might have distinguishing song titles that are written in non-Latin characters. I've more or less worked out all of them on this compilation by now and can say with only minor doubts as to its veracity that the tracks are made up of the two EPs 末世僵尸交响 (Zombie Symphonic of Arrmagedon) and Dead Bodies Everywhere, excepting the first of the two 'A Paranoia Killer' tracks, which was most likely re-recorded from the earlier release 404, after which I always want to add "URL not found". Seeing as it's quite unlikely that you'll be hunting out some obscure Asian death metal, this release makes it slightly easier to find the works of the band.

The general style of Septicaemia could perhaps be described as brutal death without deviation. They aren't the most extreme of brutal death bands but make sure that no melody whatsoever creeps into the sound, be that from lead guitar, vocal nuance, or even catchy grooves for the most part. Most of the songs on here (particularly those from Dead Bodies Everywhere) possess a kind of rubbery bass sound that flexes oddly behind the chunky guitars, while mildly mechanical drums batter out an inconsistent beat. The material from the Zombie EP should appeal more to fans of traditional death metal since the pace is much faster and the guitar slightly more biting, while the later effort is much more modern in sound. There is a small suspicion of triggers being used on the drums, though the way in which they frequently play unexpected fills and odd extra rhythms makes me think that this isn't very likely.

In all honesty, this kind of formula doesn't appeal very much to me, because I prefer my metal with something to hang onto in the way of memorability and the songs don't really distinguish themselves from one another apart from a few cooler riffs and some mildly specific drum work. 'Excrete/Absorb' is probably the one that I check the name of the most often when listening, but even that only has one riff that stands out and is manipulated through a few variations as the song progresses. As for the vocalist, my opening comment for this review should make it clear that he isn't my ally in crafting something memorable either; his Glen Benton impression, however, is a very dependable tool for his bandmates to rely on.

In terms of other standout features, the band find themselves a little short after three original releases, meaning that it falls to the cover songs to hold up their end more than they should. Covering the Chinese band Vomit was probably a good decision because a little-known band's cover always feels more like an original than something famous like 'Symphony of Destruction', which is bizarrely the other redone song. The Vomit cover has a more accessible main riff and a pretty monstrous vocal performance at times, while the Megadeth gets a surprisingly straight run through. In fact, the song sounds fairly similar to Arch Enemy's take on the metal standard, though with the expected discrepancy in the quality of the solo.

Trying to sum up a band's music like this without being harsh is quite an awkward experience, though I guess the best thing I can say is that you need to be a fan of brutal death to get much joy from this. Otherwise, there isn't really any feature of Septicaemia's work that you'll be tempted to look into, seeing as there isn't anything too technical or innovative, nor particularly fun or ridiculous, about what they produce. I'm not going to be listening to this regularly but I guess it might be alright for times when I have an excruciating hangover and want gentle but hideous music to soothe me back to reality.


-- May Diamhea's feat of 100 reviews in 7 days remain unbeaten --