Crushed

Well this was surprising. Usually the albums I just blindly buy because they sorta look like metal albums end up kind of sucking. This happens for a variety of reasons. Sometimes I just get roped in by a nice cover. Sometimes it was released through a label I like, but the music just ends up being uninspiring; even labels like Profound Lore put out a stinker or two every now and then. If the blind buy was put out on a bigger label, it's most likely just some genre fusion that never really caught on (like Glorior Belli or something). If it's a smaller release, usually the production job is sloppy or the musicianship is just a little too barebones for it to turn into something I'm gonna want to listen to again. Because of my track record with cheap blind buys, I had pretty low expectations for Crushed going in, especially with its unappealing album cover. It's not even gross or anything, it's just not a great piece of cover art. As aesthetically ugly as this album is, I was nonetheless stunned when Rotting busted out a sweet Swedeath guitar lead within the first thirty seconds of the album. Quality death metal released between 1996 and 2000 is rare, but through a mix of interesting songwriting choices, mind-numbingly stupid grooves and a little bit of dumb luck, Rotting wrote something I don't mind coming back to every now and again.

The transition between old-school death metal and early '00s brutal death metal was an awkward and uncomfortable one. As groove and nu-metal rose to prominence, thrash and death metal bands alike seemed to struggle in finding the proper mix of heaviness and accessibility to stay relevant. (If they knew the whole nu-metal craze was going to blow over, they probably would have just stuck to their guns, but who has that kind of foresight?) The guitar tone on Crushed is sharp yet muddy, and combined with the almost comically simple drum patterns during the chuggy parts, this essentially infuses Morbid Angel and Dismember riffs with an almost nu-metal-esque sense of groove. It wouldn't come as a big shock to me if at least one of the band members was a Fear Factory/Pantera type of guy. Usually that's a huge turnoff for me, but Rotting have just enough NYDM influence lurking in the underbelly to make it work. Hints of melody in leads are more-or-less just used as transitions into chunky, percussive grooves that sound extremely stupid out of context, yet somehow still get you nodding your head.

You can almost hear the growing pains as OSDM turns into the more spastic, chunky and breakdown-oriented extreme music that would come to define early 21st-century death metal. I think that's part of what makes Crushed such an intriguing album for me - this isn't quite riffy or atmospheric enough to be considered an OSDM album, but it still sounds a bit too thrashy to be fully modern. Crushed seems to straddle the line between eras, but I highly doubt the members of the band were aware of this. They probably just wanted to write some thug ass brutal shit, and that might be the album's saving grace. Despite the interesting position this album sits in style-wise, this was clearly meant to be fun, mosh music first and foremost, and the band is fully aware of that. Crushed is an album that seems more clever specifically because it is unabashedly idiotic.

Of course, this is far from perfect - the drums could use a little bit more texture and variety (especially during the blasting), the vocals are thoroughly average and I tend to tune them out most of the time, and a lot of the riffs get drowned out in the fuzz of the production job, but none of that seems to matter when I'm listening to this, because the caveman part of my brain just kind of takes over. Though Rotting is a forgotten footnote in death metal's history, it seems like underneath their complete lack of surface appeal, they actually had a lot of potential that comes through on Crushed. I didn't think I was going to like this much at all going in, but after a few listens, I'm comfortable recommending this, especially if you're one of those nerds who's obsessed with the history of death metal. Perhaps brutal death metal wasn't born out of an increasing preoccupation with technicality, but by mixing classic death metal with a more pummeling sense of groove; Crushed is proof of that, and is worth a listen for that reason.

Essentially, this is exactly what you'd want to hear from a band in which two of the five members are wearing Mortician shirts in the promo photo.

As fast as this particular band is, I'm surprised that the Guitarists fingers haven't been shaved down to a stump by the strings. However, some may have problems distinguishing how the riffs actually go. It is unfortunate that the production value isn't as well performed as most Brutal Death bands, such as Gorgasm. The best possible way to hear the full effect of the band would probably be to load the album on to your computer (and I know you have one). And use whatever media player to configure the equalizations so the guitar riffs are more evident. A little hard to hear, but still very enjoyable.

The Guitarists know that you can't stick to one certain riff for too long, and they are also smart enough to not get rid of a good one too fast. It has become aware to me that many do not enjoy many Brutal and Technical Death bands because they constantly change the tempo, the riffs, the drum patterns so fast that can't get into the music. But that is not something to worry about, at least with Rotting.

The Drummer is just as smart as the Guitarists, he is never boring. he is not afraid to use the doublekick, but neither is he hesitant to go in another direction. Some bands can't go ten seconds without doublekick (Dimmu Borgir, Decapitated), yet this one has no boundaries. The Percusionist in Rotting has very many patterns, for example there are points in the album where he goes all out Thrashy. He only actually uses doublekick when nescesary!

The vocalist has a disadvantage, but it is only quasi-noticable. The very beginning of the album is probably the most Brutal moment because the Singer has an insane vocal capability. He probably has the best Brutal Death voice I have ever heard, but he sort of lets you down as he he can no longer keep it up. He maintains a satisfying sound (very similar to Cryptopsy's Mike DeSalvo), which you can still appreciate!

As most Brutal Death bands, Rotting has aseries of pirated sound clips used throughout the Cd to add effect. The best one would have to be mid-way through the second track: "Cristian Castration". In this song the music comes to an abrupt stop, and shortly after you hear Bruce Willis with his most famous catch phrase; "Yippy-Cy-yay, Motherfucker!". When said, the music returns to a slower, yet more enjoyable riff.

There are ten songs written on the back cover, however, there are sixteen tracks. Two of which are just obscure noises for about one minute and forty seconds each. The rest of them are just four second tracks of silence!