Service for the Damned

I received this album as a free gift from the record label that was distributing the Guttural Secrete CD I bought recently. I have had it sitting around for a while, refusing to listen to it or review it until now (my laptop's speakers reduced the album's audio to The Great Wall of Noise), but now that I have a legitimate set of speakers with which to spin this album, I can tell you all that this is a genuinely good death metal album.

I had no idea this album was coming in the mail that day (or any album, other than good ol' Guttural Secrete). Coincidentally, though, the now-defunct Teratism contains members of one of my favorite independent bands: female-fronted death metal outfit Abnormality. The drummer, to be specific. Oddly enough, there is quite a bit of resemblance between the two bands; take away the sweeps and grindcore influence, and one can hear many subtle tributes to Teratism in Abnormality's music. Hell, even the vocalists sound somewhat alike, despite being completely different people (and sexes, at that), which is probably why Mallika offered to perform back-up vocals at the Teratism concert which would lead to the aforementioned band's death and Abnormality's formation.

The production on this release is very muddy. Even on some high-quality speakers, the guitars can get buried beneath the drums of the release because of the extent of their downtuning. The vocals come through fine, but when we're talking about a musical genre in which the guitar is the definitive bread and butter, not being able to hear the guitar sometimes is suicide.

The vocalist is your typical Cookie Monster-worshipping death metal growler. His lows are very clean and free of gurgles, but at the same time they can be very soulless, unfortunately. It could be best described as a mix between The Bleeding-era Chris Barnes and George Fisher, which is both a blessing and a curse. The vocalist's voice is deep and brutal, but lacks any distinction between itself and the next no-one death metal band whose CDs come free in the mail. The highs are performed by a different man in the band, and they are a big improvement over the growls. They sound almost exactly like the highs employed by Abnormality's vocalist Mallika, being full of zeal and almost employing emotion. They are seldom-used, however, and most of the time they are part of a double-layered section with the growls.

The guitars aren't performing anything monumental on this release; think Death or Possessed and you've got the basic idea of most of the guitarwork here. There are tremolo riffs abound, but in all actuality, there isn't much in the name of technicality to be found on this release. Breakdowns show up a couple times, but rest assured they are death metal-stylized breakdowns, and this would not get any scene kids riled up, and thus it is safe. You get the occasional solo, which helps to brighten up the occasional monotony, and the second half of the song "104" uses an entertaining slow, almost chugging riff, but overall, with the combination of their subtle presence and their not-so-well-constructed riffage, the guitars simply don't do much worth commendation. The end of the final song here uses an acoustic outro, but it feels entirely out of place, and isn't even in the same key as the rest of the work. One second, the singers are talking about killing a little girl and leaving her mutilated body in the woods, and then the next the guitars are performing some sort of fucking bluegrass. As for the bass, you can hear it occasionally, but when we're talking about a release where the guitars hardly exist, the bass is little more than a subtle "twang" every now and then.

The drummer is sufficiently fast, and he creates very entertaining "rolling" fills. The use of subtle polyrhythms with the bass and snare and the sound of the kit make me want to liken the drumwork to The Red Chord's on their release Fused Together in Revolving Doors. Although I do enjoy the drums, there is one thing about them that irks me more than anything else on this album, and that is the sound of the bass pedal. I guess one could say it sounds like someone's slapping a beef patty, but during the relentless blasts that are bound to come with this album simply because it is a death metal album, it ends up sounding like a bunch of nonstop wind-breaking. It's not only irritating, it sounds disgusting and almost makes you not want to listen to the otherwise good songwriting.

This is a good album, though it has some flaws that can't simply be "overlooked". If you're looking for a modern death metal album that can satisfy your simplistic side, look no further. Now as to how I picked this record up for free...All I can say is buy a CD from Pathos Productions and hope you get lucky.

Massachusetts death metalers Teratism go for the throat on their second album Service For The Damned. Everything about this band is brutal, from their pummeling riffs to their dual vocal assault, to their relentless drumming.

The album begins with "Desire For The Demented", which tackles the heart warming topic of necrobestiality(also known as fucking dead animals). This song goes back and forth between fast, technical riffs and slow and brutal ones, an approach the band takes throughout much of the album.

Next is "Eternal Retribution" which has a lot of speed but also a bunch of heavy mid tempo riffs as well as sick breakdowns. The drumming is also impressive as well, with lots of changing tempos and cool double bass patterns. This song also has an awesome solo trade off section between the two guitarists.

"Still Life" begins with an awesome riff that is a little more melodic than most of the material on the album. This song has some interesting lyrics as well, about murder for the sake of art. There are also some cool high shrieked vocals.

"Disturbing The Colony" is another decent song, but doesn't really stand out among the other songs. There is a cool rapid vocal trade off towards the end though.

"Ripped From The Womb" is one of the strongest tracks on the album. All the riffs are very brutal but really catchy as well. There is also a ripping solo as well as more devastating breakdowns.

The album closes with "104", which is another awesome track. This song is a little slower than the others but there is plenty of speed as well. The song ends with a beautiful acoustic melody, which is a little out of the ordinary, but very interesting.

This is a very good album overall. Any fan of really brutal or gory death metal should check this out. MASS DEATH FUCKERS!!!