Real-Life Death

Every scene in the metal community has bands that are seemingly praised universally as well as bands that are seemingly loathed universally. As far as death metal, goes, the boys from New Jersey in Waking the Cadaver are a perfect example of the latter. This is a band that, despite releasing some of the most abhorred albums in history with their 2006 demo and debut album "Perverse Recollections of a Necromangler", managed to shift a few people's opinions with "Beyond Cops Beyond God". With that album, they managed to move into more of a brutal death metal territory while still retaining their overal deathcore sound. Finally, in 2013, the transformation of Waking the Cadaver was complete with their transformation with "Real-Life Death", which unfortunately proved to be the band's swansong.

If you compare "Perverse Recollections of a Necromangler" and "Real-Life Death" side by side, you're going to gasp at how much the band has improved. Gone are the songs consisting of one long breakdown, and much welcomed are the use of more slams and actual death metal hymns. There is an evident influence from legendary acts such as Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation on here, incorporating a much tastier death metal riffing formula, while still slamming quite a bit. The slams are very much a highlight on this album, reminding me a bit of Devourment and Abominable Putridity. This is a very good thing. Both John Hartman and Mike Mayo show they are competent guitarists and also have a great time while performing. They stay in sync with eachother very well and compliment one another's playing. Just listen to the intro to "Business As Usual". The groove within that song is insane and very sounds very tight and clean. "Snapped in Half" also features some of the strongest guitar work on the album. This song was released a good while before the album was as a single, so when I saw it on the tracklisting, I wasn't surprised. It's full of brutal riffs and some of the best slams out of all eight tracks. "Life Lesson" is another highlight in this area as it features what almost qualifies as a guitar solo and some of most brutal slamming on the album! At around forty seconds into the song, a sonic assault of slam death erupts like a volcano that had been waiting for years to finally erupt. This song also has a pretty cool bass lick although the bass tends to follow the guitars most of the time. Still, it's fairly audible and not totally buried which is a trait that death metal is known for.

The drums on here are insane. They range from slow, drop dead heavy patterns that follow along with the chugging throughout the various breakdowns and slams, to mid-paced hardcore drum lines, to insane death metal blastbeats. WtC received a lot of negative attention for the drumming on their early albums. Dennis Morgan's playing was very sloppy, and he didn't do anything to help the music. Thankfully, between 2006 and now, he has vastly improved and adds a lot to the music. The snare drum on here is somewhat tinny and loose which reminds me a bit of the band Short Bus Pile Up. This seems to be a common sound in brutal death metal. For me, his best performance on the album lies within "Money Power Death". He's obviously having fun behind the kit, giving the album a great deal of spunk and energy.

Don Campan is still the vocalist for WtC and like everything else about the band, his performance on here is the best out of his career. Originally, he stuck to typical deathcore inhales and pig squeals (we all have seen the "shredded wheat" video on YouTube). On "Real-Life Death" he uses hardcore influenced barks, brutal lows that remind me a little of Dying Fetus, and he still does occasionally squeal. "Business As Usual" contains all of the vocal styles he uses on the album, conveniently in one song. The guy certainly has a hell of a range. While his vocals are pretty darn good, the lyrics are pretty typical for WtC. Very stupid, vulgar and some would say immature. I've never listened to WtC for lyrics. In fact, a lot of brutal death bands don't use impressive lyrics, so this really isn't a big deal, but at times they are just downright laughable. By the way, the sample at the end of "Lumped Up" was fuckin' cool!

This album is only eight tracks long, and range between just shy of three minutes and almost five minutes, with most being in the three minute neighborhood. This is one thing about the album that is a bit upsetting as it is only 29 minutes long. I really wish they would have made it longer. I think if the band had varied the songs a little more and added two more tracks or so, it would be a much more enjoyable release. Regardless, this is still the band's best album, and for an unfortunate swansong, it's still pretty good! WtC finally managed to put out a solid death metal album, even though it was the final chapter in a mostly messy career.