Review Summary: Japanese version of an infestation problem in your neighbourhood. Like a rabid dog eating faecal matter and crapping it over the walls. It is grossly matured, rotten and brutal to the core. This is incredible.
Brutal technical death metal is not exactly a particularly innovative, nor fully recognized genre of music. Gone are the days of truly spectacular and jaw-dropping releases, with a slew of acts becoming insipid or tired in their regimes. So when I heard wind of this Japanese outfit I was thoroughly compelled to check it out with more than a keen ear - and *** is it great.
Saibogu is a truly remarkable slab of solidified gold. In fact, this is probably the best death metal album of it's kind in the past 20 years. Imagine Beneath the Massacre without the dweedle, add in a dash of old school death metal flavour, along with a considerable amount of honest and powerful vocal technique, blinding production and very, VERY ***ing brutal riffs and drums and you have what is
the quintessential technical death metal album of the century. Every nuance of the genre is neatly combined in an entertaining format. The guitars are very strong rhythmically, with a superb attention paid to structure and flair, ingenuously wrapped together to form a truly crushing listening experience. With the aid of some truly mesmerizing drumming and bass guitar work, all together this sounds like a swarm of locusts enveloping you in their wake and consuming you with not only their wings, noise and cacophonous elements but totally annihilating all sense of hope for anything remotely resembling human ability. There is not a single momentary lapse of concentration from any member - the monstrosity that beckons forth from the speakers is devastating. Vocally, it is disgusting - in a good way of course. Guttural, raw, menacing, apocalyptic in nature and utterly chaotic in delivery (yet not in a sophisticated manner in terms of how they are achieved) it is obvious these guys know the routine of delivering the slab of concrete primal force without sounding ***ty, bland or uninspired. At 21:21, the album crawls along at breakneck speed - oxymoron I know but seriously, this is some ***ing brutal ***.
I have no reason to undermine or underestimate this band. I want it on vinyl, CD etc. and it is rare that such an album of quality comes around. Get this now and rate it amongst the best. For it will destroy your unborn children and slaughter both the old and young alike. Middle-aged people also beware - the dissonance will bleed you dry, the rhythms will punish you immensely and the sheer weight of literally everything on offer would've sank not only a ship but a whole ***ing fleet of Roman boats. This is on a biblical level. Every track is amazing - I'd recommend the whole thing to just about anyone who has ever enjoyed Cryptopsy, Despised Icon, Beneath the Massacre, Cannibal Corpse, Death, Morbid Angel, heck, even bands like Ion Dissonance sprung to mind. Part grindcore, part tech-death and a sure fire way to keep the neighbours in check - Czech it. Right now. Be prepared to unleash a maniacal beast. It's as if the film OldBoy mated with a samurai sword...
***ing Kryptonite=level by Superman's standards. This is
the new order of technical death metal. They've set a standard higher than anyone ever has done...believe it.
Recommended Tracks
Just listen to the whole thing God-damn... it's all brilliant.
