Chapter of Human End

This is a strange, but decent, release. I'm not an expert on the Indonesian death scene, but I know it's there and has it's fans. This seems to be typical of the scene in that most of the lyrics are in Indonesian, and the ones that are in English are pretty poor English. But that's OK, you can't understand it and no one's here for the lyrics anyway.

The cover art and the lyrics of the title track reference Qiyamat, the Muslim Armageddon, when the world will be destroyed after all the dead are resurrected, and the Sun will be brought close to the Earth turning all land into lava. ("A span the sun at your head…." and the Sun and lava on the cover). The intro - and one reprise of the theme towards the end of the album - set up a view of war in Palestine. Which isn't a bad topic in itself but this is an Indonesian band. The sound clips are in Arabic, not Indonesian.

This is straight-up slam. It's not brutal death by any means. Ocean wave slam riffs all throughout, pinch harmonics, hyperactive drumming and a nasty snare. You have a standard size 25-minute-ish collection of slam, varying from mid-tempo to fast paced. Really raw drum production gives a sense of frenzy during cymbal-heavy breakdowns. Definitely for fans of Cerebral Incubation. Vocals are a low gurgle, no pig squeals or inhales.

The songs generally get faster tempos as the album goes on, and some of the first songs are kind of boring in their conservatism. The early album slower songs are more like Cephalotripsy, just monotonous. Towards the end of the album, 'Jahiliyyah' has a really catchy call-and-response or "chorus" segment, and 'Rafaah' is an excellent closer, the fastest on the album with crazy drumming and a vibe of something like Putridity (in sections). There's also hints of OSDM with a few very brief guitar solos usually at the ends of songs.

From track 5 onward (the middle point of the album) the vocals get much lower and have a "garbage disposal" sound. I think it's probably pitch-shifted like a goregrind vocalist. Honestly it's for the worse, I prefer the vocals on the first half of the album, but musically the songs get better as you go down the track list.

This is worth checking out, it's an interesting concept. Middle of the road production that's not too clean but not too raw, except for the drums which are raw as hell, memorable slams and breakdowns, and a unique story to tell.

This album first took me by surprise. When I first realized that I was listening to something similar to my idea of slam death metal, I was glad to have found a slam death band that does not use any of those disturbing themes of sex and gore. This band plays a simple, common form of slam death metal with all the expected musical elements.

With the album has a whole, I like the length with it being an actual full length. This record seems to be a more mature project than what most slam death bands seem to do, or I have just not been well educated in the realm of slam death. Now defining slam death to me, by using Death Artery means both tremolo picking and very slow chugging riffs which seem to often end in a pinched harmonic. The drums tend to do the same as guitar; they include blast-beats and slow odd-time signature beats that match the guitar riff-lines. A good aspect about this band is the use of the bass guitar. They use just enough that the bass is not over powering or inaudible. There even are bass-solos in a few songs.

But it is the vocals where death Artery fails. One of the main reasons why I like deathcore and brutal death metal is the variation of vocalizations, thus I do not like any brutal death or deathcore bands without varying vocalizations. It seems the vocalist of Death Artery just does the same low maybe computerized deathgrowl. He does not change into a pigsqueal at all as I can hear.

Another major problem I have with this album is how the second song, Anjing Berkalung Sorban, sounds different than the others quality wise. It sounds almost as if it was recorded previous to all the rest of the album and in a less professional studio using cheaper equipment. As a grind fan, I don't mind poor quality, but I do mind inconsistency of quality. I do like the atmosphere the album creates, as I feel transported to Indonesia or some Muslim dominated country going through political struggles.

I still think this record receives a passing grade, but one of the lowest possible. I hope they continue writing music and improve their quality.