No Motivation to Live

Odious Sanction is known precisely for one reason: being one of the only brutal death metal bands out there to employ a hardcore vocal style. It's not deathcore, mind you; it's primordial brutal death metal in the vein of Dying Fetus (though that probably doesn't count as a ringing endorsement as to how death metal it is)- the hardcore influences are relegated to the vocals and a slight rhythmic edge which is just due to the music's NYDM roots. To be honest, though, there's nothing apart from the vocals which distinguish it from any other brutal death record from the same era, and the presence of the vocals just tends to make everything seem lopsided and uneven. It's not a very good album.

It's surprising just how much the hardcore vocals impact the music. You practically have to remind yourself while listening that it's a death metal record rather than a hardcore one (though I think that says more about the current state of hardcore than vice versa) due to the vocals. They're capably executed, I suppose, but they sound weak compared to the rather burly, snapping variety of death metal under it. The style does not lend itself to this sort of music at all, and stands as the weakest part of the album by far. Frankly, though, the rest of the music doesn't really attempt to make up for it. Borrowing liberally from early Dying Fetus or Internal Bleeding in style (but losing much of the groove), the music comes off as dated and uninteresting, employing the same Dying Fetus blast'n'fill style as all their progenitors and doing little to differentiate themselves from the pack. Tremolo riffs mixed with convoluted, Suffocation inspired chugging with overly triggered drums? Nah. Years too late for that.

I'm not sure that with another style of vocals this would be much better- the production is sort of flat and dated like the music itself, and the songs, despite their generally short length, seem to meander around pointless riffs a lot, with little really driving the music forward. There's some attempts at technicality, yeah, but they sound basically the same as any other pseudo-tech death band from the same era, along with a spoonful of ugly, Pro-Painish hardcore riffs that pop up every once in a while. Those passages are probably the worst on the album, but during the standard blasting passages it's only just listenable. There's nothing really significant on this release- it's all been done before, just less shouty.

Check it out if you're a brutal death historian, but otherwise this is a pass.

What first came to my mind when hearing Odious Sanction for the very first time was that these guys sound pretty waco, and that their music is pretty twisted. And then it hits me likea jakchammer - Dying Fetus, yeah, that's the band I thought of first. They sounda bit alike, since (My) Dying Fetus, actually John Gallagher, sings with more Hardcore vocals then his ealier grunts and gurgles. Odious Sanction play in the same vein as Dying Fetus, but in some parts OS bring in some more Hardcore, especially the vocals and the drums also, althought they are perfectly Death Metal. The fact that Steve Shalaty played the drums on 'No Motivation to Live' surprised me, since Steve plays also for Immolation. And I didn't think he was up to kick ass in this way to. But it's bashing and battering, and Steve does it in a cool way. Most Hardcore drummers should learn fom this guy.

"Retaliate" is one of those songs right in the middle between Death Metal and Hardcore, and I prefer to take those songs on the Death Metal side. OS are really into kicking it Hardcore, but they do it damn well. The vocals could annoy a few people, not used to that kind of "clear" vocals, and go back to listening Mortician ("grunt grunt grunt, hwiek hwie hwiek"). And this is the part when I say fuck Hardcore, this is total fucking Death Metal. Most Hardcore bands couldn't come up with twisted parts like these. God-fucking-damn-it, these guys sound really like they were to often compared to hatebreed and the likes.

The breakdowns, the drums, the guitars, and the vocals, pure entertainment for you neck and hair. Steve does some breakdowns that are lethal for anybody's neck, especially those "grim" headbangers, trying to bang all the time. Well, then bitches, try to bang ti this, 'cause you have to fucking headbang for 42 minutes without a break. You might not sit around and enjoy this release, but you will nod and bang your head (that's due to the Death/core parts). And this is the part when I should say this is not as good as a "true" Death Metal" release...nope, this is tha shit! Everybody into Death Metal, breakdowns and twisted riffs will enjoy this till the bitter end. Sunlike the guy on the cover of this release - a statue sitting bored around. Paradoxal, but find out for yourself.