Precode: Slaughter

I was surprised at the lack of depth concerning No Limited Spiral's melodeath. Japanese exports tend to be either irritatingly eclectic, or bogged down by core irrelevance. Blood Stain Child serves as the de facto figurehead of the scene and many bands have been attempting transpositions of that "trance" style of electronic abuse. Later Blood Stain Child can pull this off because they radically altered their core, stripping away the vast majority of the already-waning metal that remained in their sound. Alternatively, Gyze stands as a comparatively focused yet less characteristic affair. No Limited Spiral fall closer to the latter, as they certainly brought the riffs with them, which is frankly a relief.

Precode:Slaughter should be a winner to those weaned on more modern post-Gothenburg exports basted in ephemeral core ensconcement, like The Black Dahlia Murder, Arsis and Job for a Cowboy. There is just that... presence to the riffs and the way the music is more percussion dependent. Kxsxk's vocals are a multi-directionally spewed congested sneer in the vein of many wimpier 'core associates. His approach is replete with those constipated gutturals, driving the final nail in the band's potential on the vocal front. The other performances fare far better, with the guitars delivering a cracking barrage of At the Gates-inspired melodeath that treads closer to standard death metal than one may expect going in to Precode:Slaughter. Melodies are lacking, with lots of harmonic dual-leads playing up and down the same rote scales grinded to dust by a million bands attempting the same pseudo-dissonant playing style. No Limited Spiral pull it off better than most, though.

The keyboards failed to fulfill all of their potential, if only by proxy because the sections including them were so superior to the dry remainder. The most memorable sections from a melodic standpoint are the brooding piano pieces sprinkled throughout. "Surun Lumi" itself is a piano-driven instrumental and feels quite poignant. A smattering of backing choral interjections and other basic post-Bodom pads are thrown about, adding a fairly epic flair to otherwise standard death metal posturing. Precode:Slaughter does falter slightly as it eclipses the halfway point, stumbling past the finish line with a scattered array of average tunes that do little to build upon the potential introduced on "Right Turning the Evil" and "KRIEG."

Precode:Slaughter won't change many minds out there, but it is one of the better melodeath exports from Japan. I'd categorize these guys akin to a poor man's Gyze meets The Black Dahlia Murder. Technicality is above average, with great emotive solos, and while the band fails to truly excel in any one sector, the album is consistent in aesthetic and tone. Basically, Precode:Slaughter is worth streaming on Bandcamp and purchasing only if especially placated. For a band whose name sounds like a Final Fantasy limit break, I'm fairly impressed.