Review Summary: Brute strength led by an impeccable drum assault varying like the vast number of “insecta” inhabiting planet earth
Although not stealing thunder from other musical elements, the listener will notice the drums appear highest in the mix. The level of variance is what pulls the listener in. For instance, the amount of fills, blast beats, and tempo shifts are ever changing. The guitars are always on par with the drums and fully complement each fill and shift as one may watch a flock of birds in the sky swaying in unison to the right and to the left. Occasionally the guitars will stand out with solos found at 4:30 of “Son of Fire”. The bass is audible and can occasionally be heard using a riff interchange technique.
A component that is not often heard amongst death metal acts is the use of synths. Keyboards are used effectively on many tracks but are never overused. A standout of this display is on “From the Abyssland” where the track starts with a repeating piano passage on top of an ambient underlay that fades out on a level plane where the drums, guitar, and bass fades in perfectly.
The vocals fit in nicely and are never overdone as they take rest time to time; to let the instrumental sections take light. The lyrics may require some thought to understand but the title of the tracks gives the listener an idea of what to expect.
Although synths are not overused, the entire album has an unwavering atmosphere with the help of excellent production that allows the listener to crank the volume on full without worrying about the guitars high-end frequencies piercing their ears. From beginning to end the album is a highlight that should NOT require the listener to fast-forward to their favorite part due to top-notch cohesive writing abilities and dynamic shifts.
For a second full album release, “Rebel Souls” proves to be amongst the forerunners of death metal to come out of the year 1996. For more detailed info on the band biography please visit
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Damnation-Biography/422DE62C474C02F248256CEA000CD302.
