Label: Metal Blade
As an avid consumer of all that is twiddly, insanely fast, and bleeds blastbeats, to say I have been eagerly awaiting the new Brain Drill Album is indeed an understatement. In fact, besides the long-delayed next Necrophagist album, which has been scheduled for release “next summer”, for the past 5 years, and has become the Duke Nukem Forever/Chinese Democracy of death metal, I can think of few other potential releases that could get me this riled up. The sheer ferocity, speed, murky production, and general technical chaos of their debut “Apocalyptic feasting”, moved my dick in a way that few others have ever managed. While many, understandably, have a problem with Braindrill’s “riffsalad”, approach to composition, most will still commend the fact that at least they have taken it to the conclusion.
It’s also, as it always is for Tech Death bands, been a bumpy road as well, with multiple line up changes since Apocalyptic Feasting, as well as the band almost breaking up after being searched for drugs on the Canadian border, including all round full body cavity searches (possibly the most Spinal Tap moment in death metal). Anyway, I’m glad they’re back, and pressing play, I felt genuinely exited, awaiting my favorite riffsalad.
First up, the sound of screaming…all good! Then, instead of the sudden 300bpm blasts I was expecting, like how they started Apocalyptic Feasting, they instead lead us in with some of that lovely Braindrill bass tapping. Unfortunately, after the one second or so of bass, follows probably the most unspectacular song on the album, and a rather bemusing choise of intro. “Obliteration Untold” is pretty much stock Brain Drill, with nothing standout, and not really a patch on the onslaught that was “Gorification”, the intro to Apocalyptic Feasting.
Fortunately, the follower, “Beyond Bludgeoned” (below, in the video which is basically just them playing in the rather juxtaposed setting of a field on a sunny day), is much better, and gets right back at the kind of thing I was hoping for. Some absolutely insane guitar and bass work, spazzy structure, and a great one of those lovely “solid riff” moments, that the band occasionally pull out of the chaos.
The rest is plenty more of the same Braindrill from the first, that you either know and love, or know and are largely indifferent to. To be fair, after Apocalyptic Feasting, where else could they go without toning down? There are no surprises, and most of the material is more or less interchangeable with the debut. I was kind of hoping for more of a step forward, and stronger songs, not just exactly the same standard. The only surprise on offer was the ultimate song, the ten minute epic of a title track, with 3 solos, each better than the last, the last being beautifully evil sounding and epic in equal measure.
Braindrill can probably be forgiven for the lack of progression here, I mean, with such a tumultuous few years, I can see how it must have been hard to focus. When your being fisted by the Canadian border patrol, making an innovative sophomore is the least of your problems, but still, after all the excitement and expectations, I can’t help but be a little disappointed.
7/10
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