Review Summary: Blistering metal from a band who may never be able to reap the rewards of their skill.
I had to add this one to Sputnik myself after discovering it, and it was well worth doing so. I'll keep it brief.
I have a fondness for Middle Eastern death/black metal. For one, I'm always a fan of seeing metal through the lens of parts of the world that don't normally do it. For two, though, when it comes from a place like the Middle East, there's a sense of urgency and force because (as we saw with Arsames and Confess) this kind of music isn't permitted. So when a band does it, they're putting themselves at very real life risk. All for the music. That's as metal as it gets.
As a result, sometimes I find myself being rather forgiving when the music isn't entirely up to snuff. If the production is off or if it just kinda sounds like a derivative of the more common western sound. With Death Squad (translated name), the influences are all over the place for sure, but it's just done so damn well that I don't have to make excuses. This is incredibly vicious blackened death metal, with meaty production and just enough of an off-kilter jank to it to keep things interesting.
Obviously I have no idea what they're saying, but with an album called "Eternal War" and song titles like "Exile" and "We Are All Dead" I don't think Death Squad is trying to win points for lyrical profundity. Again, that's not a problem. These guys aren't just wearing Morbid Angel t-shirts and following a scene, they're in the fires themselves. The emotion carries the load over the lyrics. The vocalist has a very old school rasp that's closer to thrash than the deep death gutturals or anything black metal related, and it gives his performance an anger and aggression that would be lost if he was gurgling at the bottom or screeching at the top. This sounds like protest music.
I'm not ENTIRELY sure how best to describe the sound, because it does seem to exist in this spot at the nexus of black, death, with a touch of thrash in there for fun. The best example I can come up with is an angrier and less melodic Goatwhore but that seems a bit unfair on both bands. The riffs wave between chugging and black metal tremolos, without seeming like they're just sticking the various styles together like a jigsaw puzzle. You'll have a total 2nd wave death metal track like #2, then go into a slow trem-picking beast like #5 (forgive me for not using song names), and even that segues immediately into a rapid, and much shorter, death-y track.
This isn't show-off metal. There aren't wild arpeggios, no guitar solos or weird jazz bass breaks, the drummer isn't trying to be George Kollias, the bass just fills in the bottom end, and that's perfect for what's happening here. It's potent, pissed off metal from a band that I fear won't ever be able to enjoy the kind of attention they deserve simply because of where they're from, but maybe that's what makes them even more special. I was tempted to go over the top just out of my pure delight at finding them and knowing what a gem this is, all things considered, but I'll temper my enthusiasm and just rate the album on its own merits.
Purchased from their bandcamp, and I implore you to do the same: https://6667.bandcamp.com/album/-
