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Death Toll Rising

Defecation Suffocation

Written by: PP on 08/09/2010 03:02:43

Representing North America in the death metal leagues, we have Death Toll Rising from Edmonton, who have impressed a few people in the scene considering they've landed Christian Donaldson of Cryptopsy fame behind the knobs for their new full length release, "Defecation Suffocation". The band plays thick, muscular death metal typical to the American scene, while also borrowing a trick or two from the sleeve of Swedish melodeath masters At The Gates. In essence, this combination gives the record a distant metalcore vibe thanks to the riff-aping from the aforementioned band in at least a couple of faces. But fret not, dear fan of death metal, this is still very much a death metal release.

That, however, is where the compliments ought to end, and do so as well if you do a quick search around the web for some reviews on the release. The reviewer core seems to be in almost unanimous agreement that whilst Death Toll Rising are technically proficient and play death metal like the genre's forefathers designed it to be played, they offer absolutely nothing new nor interesting to an avid fan of the genre. In other words, heard it all before. This scribe nods once for every point mentioned thus far, because it's hard to get around the fact that the songs are extremely predictable and unoriginal throughout. Such adjectives often (always?) translate into a bland and boring release overall, signified by the fact that even after more than ten active listening sessions, I'm still struggling to describe any highlights or particular songs from the release that would've made an impression at some point. Even as a narrow minded but fanatic death metal listener, there's just nothing to see here. Moving along...

Download: Visceral Remains
For the fans of: Textbook death metal
Listen: Myspace

Release date 24.04.2010
Self-Released