Cerebral Cereal

There are many hidden gems within the late 90s-early 2000s era of brutal death metal. Usually, people bring up Devourment, Disgorge, Internal Bleeding, and Cryptopsy when talking about this era of extreme music. Leaving many others out and shunned. One highly underrated and fantastic band in my eyes of this era is Pyaemia. Very similar to another great band Disavowed. Both bands shared some of the same guys. Regardless this band was a very short-lived group. They managed to put out one album entitled “Cerebral Cereal”. And this album is nothing short of amazing.

Right away you can feel the Suffocation influence from the start. Over the course of these 9 tracks, you are beaten over the head with relentless intensity. Constant blast beats, tightly picked riffage, and fantastic grooves. Much like albums of this nature, it’s very straightforward yet very well-executed. Each song has a wide variety of tasty riffs and technical flare. I would say much like Suffocation this has the flavors of a technical brutal death metal band. But this is way more brutal death metal. It’s just got those technical riffs here and there that scream Suffocation.

Even the vocals are Suffocation-inspired. Joel Sta who also was in Disavowed for a short time does vocals here. And he does a very good Frank Mullen type of vocal style. Joel’s range consists of these nicely done gutturals and mid ranged growls. You also get the occasional shout or raspier backing vocals. Each line is delivered with brutality and aggression. He’s got a good flow and powerful voice.

Onto the guitars. Each riff on this album is fucking gnarly and absolutely brutal. Every single second you’re beaten to a bloody pulp with extremely dense and fast-picked riffs. There are tons of nasty palm muted breakdowns and mid-paced grooves all over this fucking thing. I love all the old school tremolos that pop up everywhere as well. This album in general sounds very old school. Raw and intense as this music should be. There is also the occasional melody used. But mainly this album latches onto the groove and never lets go.

Fast-paced riffs are also heavily used alongside blast beats. This is a very fast and blasting album. That leaves no room for you to escape. It’s a good blend/balance of fast blasts and clever hooks/rhythms. You also get those very crawling and technical flares in the riffs. Along with pinch harmonics. The bass also gets to shine with some very nice bass sweeps and crawls on “Impaled on Stakes”. The evil sounding technicality makes it a very memorable moment. Along with every other fantastic groove and tempo change on here.

The production of this record is very good. The sound on this album is visceral and sharp. The drums have a perfect pop to them that doesn’t drown out the kick drums. The kick drums sound especially fantastic as well. The bass is mixed very well and is heard throughout the entire album. Vocally this is a very upfront and aggressive-sounding mix. But most importantly the guitars have a fantastic tone and crunch to them.

The drumming on this album is very blast beat dominated. The blast beats are played with hella intensity and with great precision. But man the double bass and drum grooves are what sell it for me. I love each chunky mid-paced drum beat or the occasional thrashy beat. It keeps things intense, fast, and engaging throughout these 28 minutes of death. The breakdowns are also obnoxiously heavy and gut punching. Overall the drums are a good balance between fast-paced blasting and good rythmns.

In conclusion, this album is brutal death metal gold. Each song is a fun listen and never fails to get my head banging. If you love Suffocation this is a must know in my eyes. And for any brutal death metal head. It’s aggressive, groovy, and very well written. So if you want some very blunt brutal death metal with a tinge of technicality. Check out Pyaemia immediately.

FFO: Suffocation, Disavowed, Disgorge, Severe Torture, Deeds of Flesh