Engulfed by the Swarm

The problem with a band like Polterchrist is not that they are bad, it isn’t even the atrocious album cover art or the silly name, it’s simply that they don’t really need to exist. They’re part of an oversaturated genre and they don’t have anything particularly new or exciting to say in it. That’s not to say they aren’t all competent musicians. They just don’t have anything that makes them more necessary than the next band.

I picked up Engulfed by the Swarm at a local resale shop, because with a name like Polterchrist and an album cover that has giant bees swarming a city (sounds more awesome than it looks) I couldn’t resist. Unfortunately, while it wasn’t quite as silly as it appeared, it also isn’t exceptional in any way. The performances are solid, the production is fine, but the songwriting lacks what it needs to tear you away from better albums. Polterchrist isn’t a purely typical death metal band, they accent the music with other thrash and black metal influences, as well as some clean vocals and little electronic bits, but these extras most often feel like distractions rather than meaningful additions. The album works best when the band finds a good riff to tear into, but that isn’t nearly as often as you’d like, and too often the less appealing moments take up and make you wish you were listening to a band with a bit more focus. I want to like this band more than I do, there are worse things to listen to and many of those things are hugely popular at the moment, but I have no reason to return to this album. None of the songs or riffs are particularly impressive or memorable (with the exception of the riff in Alone that sounds just like Morbid Angel). And unfortunately for the band, even total death fiends who would otherwise be able to enjoy the band despite this could easily be turned off by the silly electronic moments or the questionable addition of the processed clean vocals. Without the additions, what’s left is simply standard death metal that isn’t nearly as captivating as something else you could be listening to.

If you can’t get enough extreme metal, there are tons of other albums you can go to. But if you aren’t particularly picky and you like a bit of variety in your death metal, Polterchrist might just have enough twists and turns to entertain you.