Reviews
2007-09-25
This Czech technical death metal band certainly pays its dues to its biggest influence –
Death and the man behind it, Chuck Shuldiner RIP. It's definitely a tough and pretty bold move, and from at least one point of view - it works.
The Chilly Touch Of Death opens up the proceedings using a dark intro, before the band's pretty complex death metal kicks in. the closest thing to Death's music are the vocals, which really do sound quite similar to Schuldiner, music-wise they tread the same path, but some things hinder the band. The drumming is solid, as are the guitar riffs and lead work, but it's quite clear that the band did not have a proper budget for this self-released effort. The sound is mediocre at best, while the drums are high in the mix and pretty clear, the guitars really suffer in the production and sound quite thin.
It’s not bad enough to make this not work, but it certainly doesn’t help. The guys put a lot of effort into the riffs and arrangements and with a proper production the stuff they play can sound very strong. Still, in such tracks as the third one – Puppets, it's clear that even the production can't take away the solid writing from the band, some strong riffs, the vocals keep everything focused, and it just works.
The last track is a cover for Death's Crystal Mountain, and here you can feel the resemblance most clearly, the vocals are very similar to Shuldiner's, and playing-wise they pull the song off all right. Again, the sound prevents this from sounding on-par with the original, but I feel that with a label and some proper production values, this band can create a very good album indeed.
Alon Miasnikov
