Demo 2012

Disclaimer: Just because I submit a band to the Metal Archives doesn't necessarily mean that I think of their music as high quality. Cerebral Abscess's EP 2012 is here to back up that claim. There isn't a whole lot of good to say about this EP. Whether it be the horrible sounding drum kit or the poor production, this was a flop for the most part.

The overall sound of this release can be described as uncomfortable. I know, I know, this is brutal death metal, which isn't a metal genre known for being a walk in the park. But seriously, there are a lot of great sounding brutal death metal bands that I like. Cerebral Abscess hasn't quite made this list yet with this debut EP. Let's begin with the production. For those of you who were subjected to the snare drum of Lars Ulrich in St. Anger, I recommend that you don't listen to this EP. You will get bad sounding snare PTSD real quick. That particular snare's tone was bearable then, but when you're playing a boatload of blast beats for Cerebral Abscess, why must you give your snare such a overwhelmingly bad tone? I wouldn't be surprised if the "drummer" here was a drum machine that was just programmed terribly, because that's what it sounded like. I am well aware that Metallica and this band are two very different entities, but bad tones are universal.

Speaking of bad tones, the rest of the band sounded ridiculous. The guitar and bass tones were muddy and sludgy to a point where lower pitched melodies just bled together into some sort of riff soup. Yuck. And then let's just add on the fact that the vocals are half buried in the relentless sound of the rest of the band. Whoever produced, mixed and mastered this did a less-than-awesome job.

In terms of technicality, this EP was okay. It was hard to tell what was complex or not, but the riffs that I could completely discern were tasteful, even for a brutal death metal band. The opening of "Rabies" was very technical indeed, and the song itself was the 2012 EP's highlight. Even through the awful production, most of its riffs powered through.

None of the songs had any real song structure here, which for people like me is a necessity. There were some changes in tempos in the band would initiate some breakdowns or groove sections, but nothing more than that. Just about everything was stagnant including the freakishly low key that Cerebral Abscess played in for the duration of the demo. The vocals, when they could be heard, were either low growls or squealing. That's it.

To sum it up here, I wasn't too impressed. This is the band's only complete release, and the rating I'm giving it now would be much lower had it been a later release. What you're going to get from EP 2012 is muddy riffs, bad production and a snare drum that will have you begging for mercy to make it stop the racket it's making. There were a few nice things here and there but they truly only reached the "not bad" level. Oh well.