Review Summary: Less than the sum of its parts
Almost everyone is familiar with the phrase, “more than the sum of its parts”. If not, I’m sorry that you had to learn English as a second language, because it’s ridiculous. Hey, speaking of ridiculous, let’s talk about The Berzerker. A self proclaimed “industrial death metal” band, The Berzerker takes some of the stomping riffs and digital drums of industrial metal and combines it with grindcore and death metal. If that sounds strange, well, that’s because it is. With
Animosity, The Berzerker has created an audible mess of an album that has the potential to be enjoyable, but ends up sounding confused and nigh incomprehensible.
Upon an initial listen,
Animosity hits you right in the face with a whirlwind of sounds. Opener “An Eye for an Eye” is more grindcore influenced, with lightning fast, tremolo picked riffs and blast beats, and a catchy-as-all-hell section at the end. As you delve further into the album, however, patterns emerge: above average grindcore and death metal riffs delve into pounding, headbanging industrial and vice versa. It is extremely difficult to differentiate between songs, because the whole thing generally sounds the same.
That’s not to say the album is without merits, however. The industrial parts are extremely well done, and peak at album highlight “False Hope”, which focuses more on the stomping, simpler, slower (for them) paced riffs and less on the frantic flurry of riffs and over the top digital drums. When The Berzerker breaks into these phases, it is wholly enjoyable, and you will catch yourself headbanging along. The grindcore/death metal parts are also well done, though not up to par with the masterful industrial sections. For the most part, riffs remain groovy and infectious, if not particularly memorable. In contrast, when songs break into frantic, lower end strumming paired with a drum machine on meth sound, the enjoyable qualities of the music are completely lost.
Now, let’s get to the biggest negative of the album: grindcore and fast-paced death metal sound terrible with digital drums. Sure, they’re mixed well enough that on occasion they are unnoticeable, but like a mosquito so far in your ear that you can’t reach, you are constantly reminded of the annoying sound they produce. The doom beginning of “No More Reasons” is laughably bad when the digital kick hits, and overall the drums fit poorly, aside from the industrial passages. A band like Ministry can pull off blast beats well, but they weren’t trying to be grindcore and used them when they were needed. The Berzerker uses them entirely too much, and it just ends up being an annoyance above anything else.
If you were to split The Berzerker into two bands, let’s call them Theber and Zerker, each one focusing on one genre, the bands would undoubtedly be enjoyable, even great. When combined, though, The Berzerker only manages to create a mildly enjoyable album with potential.
Animosity is less than the sum of its parts, which is a shame.
