Dissimulate

Oh my fucking God (if I only cared for Him)!!! This is among the most awesome fucking things I've ever heard! In fact, the last time I heard something this cool was when I first heard Cradle of Filth, my favorite band of all time (sorry!). So I really liked this one. I like industrial, and I like death metal/ grind, so when you combine the two, it makes one fucking Hell of an album. The Berzerker kicks cybernetic ass, and it deserves its name wholly.

The style is definitely very unique, blending essentially blast-fest death metal/ grindcore with this thing which they call "gabba" techno. I think this mostly is evident in the sound of the drums, which sound very electronic (something that might put off fans of regular DM). Most of the album is basically brutal death metal, but in the latter half the techno element is more apparent, mostly in the drum structure (i.e. less blast beats). Some of the songs are downright "danceable," if you can imagine that from an extreme metal band. Although I would have a hard time describing the grindcore elements, I personally believe the Berzerker is more grind than death, but very industrial at the same time.

When I listened to this album, I was amazed at the ferocity and velocity with which the Vocalist delivers his vocals. He is very, very good at what he does, rapidly alternating between deep and high growls. Since the booklet didn't come with lyrics, I don't have a fucking clue what he's saying, but just the delivery is fantastic. Also, most of the songs feature samples of very morbid dialogue, which is great for the violent nature and atmosphere displayed in the music. Overall, 10/10--nothing wrong here.

The guitarwork is very cool on Dissimulate. It is very thrashy, at least in my opinion and is quite melodic in some places, in a way that I would not typically expect of death metal. This may be the grind part of the Berzerker. However, the guitars were often a little on the inaudible side, due to the intensity of the gabba style bass drums; similarly, I could not here one note of bass guitar throughout the entire album. Oh well. Overall, 8/10.

I hear there was this rumor circulating that the Drummer in the Berzerker was the fastest around. I saw immediatey that this was certainly not true, but he is pretty fucking fast. Lots of blast beats here, especially on the first six songs. As said before, the number of "danceable" beats increase after this point, but it's still all completely solid, solid like a computer chip or something like that. I can't see though, why they would have a live drummer on the album if they were going to make the percussion sound that electronic. I would just use a drum machine or other mechanical apparatus. Overall, 9/10--the gabba sound can get annoying after a while.

The Berzerker is undeniably awesome, at least for weird people like me. When I bought this CD, I was on a search for DM albums laden with blast beats, and this one sure as fuck did not disappoint. The drum sound may take a few minutes to get used to (only a few) but if you like blast beats, you'll be in blast beat heaven like I am. I highly reccomend the Berzerker to anyone who is a fan of the styles that this band belongs to, or anyone who wants something very unique to add to their collection. The Berzerker: the best thing to come out of Australia since Mad Max!