Review Summary: "Nebula" is a solid first full-length release by Death I Am that shows a lot of talent and potential. Fans of the new death metal bands out there should definitely give this a listen. Fans of more old-school death won't find much comfort here.
Death I Am started out not so different from a lot of other new death metal bands with a bit Swedish Death Metal influence as well as some influences from the new wave of American death metal. However with their first full-length release titled "Nebula" they have evolved into a different sort of beast.
Nebula was released 29th of April 2010 and featured 4 re-recorded tracks from the previous demos and 6 completely new tracks, in total being a 41 minute long record.
Death I Am's style of music is a bit hard to pinpoint on this album, it has been named both "brutal melodic death metal" as well as "death metal" or "deathcore" and really it has elements from all those sub-genres.
A big difference from Death I Am's previous work is the addition of "pig squeals" in this album by Jacob Wilcox which weren't present at all during the first two demos. With "pig squeals" it's really a matter of preference, it can be a turn-off for a lot of people. Personaly, I feel that "pig squeals" can add that something extra to a song but can also take it away. When it comes to "Nebula" I feel that they do work very well in a lot of tracks like in "Subatomic Shower", but feel a bit overdone in others like in "Solace in Silence" which sounded much better without it in the demo.
Overall Jacob is an excellent death metal vocalist with a lot of range with his growls and you can see that he has definitely evolved since the previous demos.
The guitars switch from very melodic riffs and solos to bone-crushing heaviness, there's not too much focus on catchy riffs here as you see a lot with European bands but it will definitely make you feel the urge to headbang. The melodic element really ads a big part to this record and I feel that without it "Nebula" would be a pretty boring affair. Shogo really shows his guitar skills on this album, a good example is the solo by the end of "Belligerence". It's not as advanced or technical as with many death metal bands but it is very well written and will stick in your head for sure.
The drum work provided by previous drummer Daishi Matsukura is absolutely fantastic, his style of playing mixes a some brutal death metal elements such as blast beats and even a gravity blast at a point with very light playing on the hi-hat creating some "softer" drum riffs that are welcome diversion and definitely mix things up a bit making the drumming in this album stand out.
Another thing that stands out a bit in this album are some subtle hints of a bit of progressive elements thrown in, for example there is a part in "Subatomic Shower" that slows the tempo down a lot with a soft drum beat and some bass playing. These moments however are few and far inbetween and it only feels as if they would add a bit more of that progressive element it would only add to the whole experience and make the band stand out in the sea of death metal bands of today. In any case, they are certainly capable of doing such a thing.
However, there are also downsides with this album, there are some tracks like "Conceiving" and "Cross Shatter Paralysis" that feel very tedious and unfinished. They absolutely fade in comparison with other great ones like "The Inner Serpents". It feels like they were trying to mix it up with a bit of more heavy and brutal tracks that gave off a death metal vibe but it really felt like they lacked any good riffs or assemblance at all and just made you want to skip to the next track on the album. Mixing melodic tracks with some heavy death metal tracks can be done very well as seen for example with The Black Dahlia Murder's "Ritual" or "Deflorate" but here these tracks really fall flat.
Overall as a first full-length release by this band, "Nebula" does not disappoint. It definitely makes you come back to a lot of the tracks for multiple listens and the band did a good job of mixing things up a bit making this album stand out more. While other death metal albums feel great at first but get boring quickly, "Nebula" has a more of a lasting impression. It is far from an amazing album but the potential is definitely there to create something unique.
