Repulsive Conception

Let's start with the only flaw worth mentioning here: the cover "artwork". What you get on the front cover basically is a tasteless combination of colours, a deformed band logo and an out of place hovering ghost face, its mouth opened to - of course - a tortured scream. Maybe this is some metaphor I don't understand but it doesn't get any better on the tray inlay which depicts a skeleton glowing from the inside. I find this conception as repulsive as that of the debut "Swamped in Gore" (anyone remember the ridiculous chess board with the body parts attached to it?).

Whether the cover design was imposed on Broken Hope by the record company or not, the band makes up for this minor let-down with the first song already: "Dilation and Extraction" starts with a mid-tempo, dragging riff which evolves into a steamroller like groove with double bass drum and the deep growling voice Joe Ptacek was so famous for (once attending a Broken Hope show as an exchange student in Minneapolis around 1994 a friend who was more into Pantera asked 'How do you get such a voice?' - Neither did I know then nor do I now). As a matter of fact, Ptacek's voice sounds as natural on this record as it did ever. Critics stating his vocal performance would be one-dimensional may be right, but I think his constant deep guttural growl fits this type of death metal best. High pitched screams or so would just cut the overall heaviness and groove of this album short.

Here we have the type of record that makes it hard to point out certain stand out songs as the whole material keeps its forward pace as one devastating entity. Compared to the rather straight forward blasting predecessor "The Bowels of Repugnance" aforementioned opener is more restrained and slowed down. This causes the heaviness of Monty Python's 16-ton weight - a characteristic staying constant with all of the 15 songs presented on here. Broken Hope definitely gained heaviness and depth, but lost some of the dark vibes they displayed on the predecessor. Concerning the drums, fans of blast beats don't have to worry since there is plenty of that ingredient still to be found in almost every track. The most stand out instrument besides the voice might be the lead guitar: Brian Griffin almost adds a doom touch to the slower parts with his solos. I like the strange melodics of his leads which sometimes reach the border to kitsch, luckily without crossing it. Yet full virtuosity regarding technique is still to come with 1999's "Grotesque Blessings". But James Murphy, then with Testament, as a guest contributor makes up for this with a solo in one of the tracks.

One thing I highly appreciate in death metal of the more brutal kind would be an audible bass. Shaun Glass delivers nicely in this respect without annoying due to too much presence. His sound is rather clean which helps discerning him and the overall wall of sound. This way some nice details in the bass line can be discovered, such as in the opening riff of the eighth track, where some filler notes off beat set a distinctive accent. Also worth mentioning is the fact of Broken Hope keeping up their tradition of featuring a violin in the short acoustic interludes. Violin player Ravicka improved compared to her work on the predecessor. This time she keeps up proper intonation most of the time but still the outcome sounds a little bit overstrained. By no means do I want to dwell on that point too much since mastering the violin is another league. Besides this interlude can be regarded as filler anyway - the latter not being the case with the rest of the few interludes or intros, that one to the Twisted Sister cover "Captain Howdy" being a good example.

Once again I have to return to the album cover, this time regarding the band picture. Besides the usual suspects a sixth member is depicted: Zaya the pitbull, whose barking in the corresponding track "Pitbull Grin" forms an uplifting duet with that of Joe the singer. I don't know what Zaya had been up to but one thing is for sure: she delivered such an aggressively strained performance that there is no need to worry that she relieved herself on the pool table where the picture was taken. If any I would pick this one as stand out song of the album. By the way, I have to put some serious shame on Broken Hope for not even mentioning the two absolutely most outstanding artists to be heard on this album: the couple screwing as an intro to track no. 4 "Engorged with Impiety". Whether or not it was Joe Ptacek himself who got laid here by a definitely committed lady ('fuck me bastard fuck me'), this couple's rhythm ('who - a aah he - who - a aah he - who - a aah he') seamlessly merges into one of the most dedicated romping rhythms Broken Hope ever came up with.

So in an attempt to finish my review in a serious way: "Repulsive Conception" really is a brutal slab of death metal, which comes with superb sound (the best of any Broken Hope production in my opinion) and actually quite a lot of variety - not to mention the (unintentional?) comical aspect. Broken Hope deliver a profound performance here, both the slower and the usual blast beat-ridden fast tracks work out great. They managed to add more depth to their sound and overall clearly matured as a band. I regard "Repulsive Conception" as the last "old school" output of that combo, before they started to follow a more technical approach with "Loathing".

When I was first introduced to death metal music it was by bands like Slayer and Venom, two of which it took me years to appreciate on their own. But one thing bands like the aforementioned did accomplish, they lit the spark that spread like wildfire over the genre. That being said, I started to get on my own two feet about the genre and started to discover the big names like Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation. And lesser common names like Prophecy, Hate Eternal and Broken Hope. The last name I mentioned is the band I want to talk a little bit about today.

Where has truly sickening and outright disgusting lyrics, alongside the most inhuman vocals come from? Joe Ptacek and company. The successor to the untouchable Bowels of Repugnance, a feat I thought almost impossible. But Repulsive Conception, lifts its spirits on high. Melodic shifts, acoustic interludes, which have almost become a trademark in their releases. It drives along this mighty beast. Including the contrast of downright evil, into a softer interlude.

This was one of the introductory releases that got me into death metal in the first place. And I think this was one of the more polished and heightened releases from the stock. I wish their newer stuff could reflect on their earlier discs.

Repulsive Conception a blend of memorable riffs and excellent drums and guitar assemblage. I wish the bass could stand out more in this release, but I guess its absence in sound, makes up for it in the other stand out instrumentation.

As I think I made it clear this album has some nostalgic value to me. Their newer work is almost becoming a distasteful reflection. It was cool to get the DVD with their new album. Repulsive Conception is a album not to miss. To me this and the Bowels of Repugnance are their key and elemental releases.

There have been a handful of instances in the history of metal where an otherwise consistently good band somehow produces a completely worthless album, for no apparent reason. "Repulsive Conception" most definitely belongs in this category, along with other abortions such as "St Anger" "Virtual XI", and "Breeding the Spawn" to name a handful.

Half of what makes this one so terrible is the contrast between what it followed and what came after. "The Bowels of Repugnance" is an insane melange of sludge-riddled brutality, gut-churning sound effects and beautiful neo-classical pieces, like a gore-drenched brutal version of "Blessed Are The Sick". "Loathing", the followup to this waste of plastic, is one of the most impressively executed slabs of clinical brutal death metal ever created. Yet somehow "Repulsive Conception" has all the charm of a rotten potato. The production is a complete mess, squashing all the guitars and bass into an inaudible drone and leaving the drums to click away like fingernails on a tabletop. The vocals just kind of gurgle away over the top without ever truly standing out, so you're basically left with 46 minutes of "bluuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp".

To add insult to injury, they somehow felt the need to include a full 15 songs here, including an absurdly pointless Twisted Sister cover that renders the song nearly unrecognizable. Sure there's a couple of interludes, but even those are completely forgettable. Otherwise it's impossible to tell when one song ends and the next starts unless you sit there staring at the CD player's time display.

I suspect there must have been a reason for the uselessness of this album - all sorts of behind the scenes issues can interfere with the creative process, and perhaps the liner notes would give a clue if they weren't printed so small as to be literally unreadable - but they should have just scrapped it and released a 7" of "Pitbull Grin" and the two instrumentals, and then moved on.

Ever since I started listening to heavier music 34 years ago with "Unleashed In The East" I think, I wanted it to be heavy, fast, and memorable. Also, ever since I started reading the reviews on this site, I always thought you should give a 100 to a record only if you listened to it at least 100 times. I know, silly. "Repulsive Conception" is definitely HEAVY, pretty fast, and memorable, and that's why over the last 18 years I listened to it over 100 times...and it still sounds great.

Actually, I think it's one of the heaviest albums out there, and frankly almost anything produced by Brian Griffin kicks ass. Just listen to "The Fine Art of Murder". Everything is just perfect here: guitars, solos, drums, vocals. The sound reminds me of "Dawn of Possession", but it's even more "meaty". As for pace, you have everything from blast beats to "romantic" interludes with slow parts that are really crushing, the best examples being the opener and Twisted Sister cover, which is to me probably the heaviest cover of any band done by any band. And riffs and arrangements, they are totally memorable and "hummable". Unlike with some technical bands (Defeated Sanity, Decrepit Birth, Neuraxis, etc., which are great to listen, but you just can't remember any riffs or melodies afterward), after a couple listens to the record you can actually remember songs and tell them apart.

I won't go into each song separately as they all rule, and to me this is a death metal classic. If you love "Dawn", "Effigy", and "None So Vile", then you have to own this album. And frankly, you should get all Broken Hope records as they all are way above average. I wouldn't give any of them less than 80.

Along with Malevolent, Deicide, Suffocation, and Immolation, they are probably the most consistent death metal band and their new album will be for me the most anticipated record since "Breeding The Spawn", and I hope they will not make the same mistake as Suffo did and let Brian produce it as well.