Catalyst

With a name like A Billion Limbs, I expected a deathgrind or BDM band, but this is a groove metal act with a very simplistic way of expressing ideas, or lack thereof. Even though the runtime is a lengthy 50 minutes, there is such little content to analyse here other than continuous downtuned chugging throughout the album. Bearing this in mind, the guitar work consists of slightly alternating patterns of pretty predictable grooves and really has nothing to offer beyond a single listen. One positive aspect of the music is the controlled chaos of the drumming, with some very impressive use of fills. Apart from this, the songwriting is too reliant on breakdowns, resulting in monotonous and overlong sections that are drawn out for far too long, taking the content that there is and making it excessively dull.

Continuing from this, there really isn't much differentiation between each track. Virtually every song resorts to the same structure; technical but flat riffing before slow breakdowns. The predictability of this really kills the suspense of some of the songs, because the band does get the pacing right at times. It's just a shame that the guitar work doesn't divert much from the core of mediocre chugging in unorthodox patterns. With the exception of the guitars being way too quiet however, the production is slick, so I guess a clean-sounding album is better than a rough and compressed album, no matter what the quality of the music is like. Anyway, this is mediocre groove metal that doesn't do enough to satisfy any sort of emotion and just goes on for way too long.