Soul Recall

Oakland based death metal band Rude released a soul crushing example of why there is still hope for death metal in today's world, considering its release in early 2014. When you first play the album, right away you understand what I mean by "soul crushing." The riff-work in the first track "Haunted" hits you with a groove on par to that of which only bands like Morbid Angel or Immolation capture so perfectly which as it unwinds, hide hints of early Death, Autopsy, and even Pestilence. Add Yusef Wallace's spot on Martin Van Drunen style vocals to the mix and you have a death metal release sounding straight out of the early 90's.

The album follows a simple lyrical concept. The album's lyrics ranging from disease and occultism to the horrors of death and beyond. Lyrically, it's an album that any death metal fan can be familiar with. The composition on this album is incredibly consistent. Each song is different from one another, but not so different to the point where it's almost not the same band, which we wouldn't want to see considering the masterpieces that they show us on this album. The title track "Soul Recall" very well encompasses the general sound of the band with easily the most filthy and grotesque sounding riffs this album presents. A hard hitting representation of what is to come, as it is only the fourth song of eight. The ominous sounding guitar work on this album creates a heavy sense of uncertainty, but an obvious sense of horror. A perfect combination of sludgy and ugly riffs accompanied by brutally fast blast beats and drum fills provides you with a perfect headbanging soundtrack. The sound given to you here is very clearly reminiscent of many old-school death metal classics such as Death's "Leprosy," Autopsy's "Severed Survival," Morbid Angel's "Altars of Madness," and of course, Pestilence's "Consuming Impulse." The album has similar characteristics of these old-school death metal classics without sounding overdone, or already done for that matter. It's surprising to hear that this album wasn't actually an unreleased album from Pestilence. Surely to be an anthem of modern old-school death metal. You can almost be completely sure that you would have had this in your death metal CD collection upon your first time hearing it thinking it was some band from the 90's.

But is the best part of this album the fact that it sounds so familiar? Or is it because it is a breath of fresh air from what has been recently been released by other popular death metal bands? It would be realistic to say both. When you listen to this album, it engulfs you in a sound that is new, but at the same time, a sound you are acquainted with. A heavy sense of nostalgia with the guarantee of something you actually haven't heard before, and surely won't regret. "Soul Recall" would definitely be one of my picks for one of the strongest releases of 2014 because of how tight and precise it's sound is. On this album, you get exactly what you'd expect from and old-school death metal band, and even more.