Review Summary: Slam is as slam does.
Acranius is the definition of slam and
Dishonor is unsurprisingly slam by the numbers. Every second of it is drenched in distortion, gurgling vocals, and either blast beats or slow slam grooves depending on the section. Gory lyrics abound and the album cover, while not as disgusting as others, is visually extreme. It’s visceral, completely un-mainstream, and easy as hell to throw down to, which virtually sums up the entire appeal of the genre. It’s also so simple in its execution that no more than one listen will reveal all that Acranius offers.
Dishonor is thirty four minutes of pure, unadulterated slamming death metal, with all the good and bad the genre has ever offered.
The bottom line here is that every single song is equally effective and well performed, but due to that constant quality no song stands out. The album as a whole is exactly as fun as it needs to be. There isn’t anything complex or thought provoking about it in the least, but turning one’s mind off for half an hour of heavy entertainment isn’t exactly a bad thing either. The instruments are well performed across the board, but there just isn’t anything substantial to talk about in regards to their performance. The riffs are sure to get the pits started, but that’s really about it. Some will find the bottom string abuse monotonous, but it wouldn’t quite be slam without it, being a genre staple. The vocals add to that monotony with only one utilized technique, the classic indiscernible grunt. Put together, all these elements make some really crushing music and that’s all that needed to be asked of Acranius. Acranius doesn't care about making mind blowing metal in the absolute least. They just care about getting the crowd headbanging and
Dishonor should have no difficulty doing that.
