- Shodan
- Death, Rule Over Us
- Progressive Death Metal
- April 3rd, 2020
- Deformeathing Production
- 7.3
Poland has given us some of the finest death metal bands over the years. Something about that region breeds anger and intensity, but how does Shodan match up to their forebears on their latest release?
The record starts with a pounding thrash riff to set things off with a massive bang as vocalist Szczepan Inglot barks with the ferocity of an enraged pitbull to complete the wall of sound attacking the listener. Only towards the very end of the first track does the band settle back into a solid groove and the vocals mold into a gritty singing style. This starting track is a perfect snapshot of the album as a whole, intense, heavy, and groovy, though there are some elements of the sound that could use some tweaking.
One of the biggest gripes I have with this record is the gritty singing style that comes up throughout. While in some sections it fits well, like towards the end of the first song “Breslau”, but throughout this album it tends to stick out in an awkward manner and takes one out of the listening experience. While the band does experiment with different flavors of styles throughout, they generally stay within a very safe death metal palette and the songs tend to blend together into one large mass.
Death, Rule over Us is a very solid record with high intensity and tight production however there are some things holding it back from being a ripper. The clean singing doesn’t seem to quite fit in with the overall sound and the riffs, while well executed and head bobbing at first, tend to play it safe and blend into each other throughout.
While not mind-blowing, Shodan has created an intense whirlwind of riffs.
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