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Trigger The Bloodshed: Degenerate
26/05/10 || Khlysty
Damn, but these limeys RAWK!!! Hailing from Bristol, UK (the town that gave birth to Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky and the whole trip-hop scene…) Trigger The Bloodshed –from hereon to be demoted to TtB; I HATE these three-words-band-names- started off kinda like a chaotic death/spazzcore band, only to soon discover that they were flogging a dead horse/genre. So, instead of giving up metal and turning into a trip-hop band, TtB decided to become a pretty interesting –if not highly original- bona fide death metal band and “Degenerate” is proof positive that they’re on the right track.
See, when the band goes for a straight death metal sound it really rips! The riffing, although nothing really über-technical or hyper-sophisticated, is memorable, brootal, brusque and to the point. It’s also mighty groovy in a kind of Meshuggah-passed-through-an-aerodynamic-tunnel way (the guitars have the deep resonance of ‘Shugg’s later works, but the music basically lacks the Swedes’ mindfuck time-signatures, sounding more linear in its development, more, ah, streamlined) and aggressive in a beaucoup satisfying way. This is modern death metal, played with conviction by a tight band that goes for brootality as well as groove.
A coupla times the band retrogrades to deathcore-isms, which cut the record’s momentum, but, generally speaking, the record has great flow and quite a lot of things that make it an interesting listen. The soloing, while mostly atonal, is economic and actually enhances the music. The bottom-end is commendable (even from laptop speakers, the music has heft and presence) and the production is pretty ace, even though it lacks a bit of clarity that I think it would have given the songs more character and personality. The drumming is also commendable, although I cannot but feel that quite some triggering has been used during the recording process.
Now, as far as the vocals are concerned, the deep death-growls are pretty cool and –miracle of miracles!- almost intelligible! BUT the screeches that sometimes work their way parallel to the growls are useless and most of the time remind me of Gollum’s worst moments. Another point that I wanna make is that, in my not-so-fucking-humble opinion, most of the songs would have benefited from some trimming: thirty secs here, a minute there, twenty secs yonder… and the record would’ve been a much tighter, more aggressive and a groovier affair.
All in all, though, this is one good record. Its positive aspects clearly overshadow its lame parts. Obviously TtB went for quality here and generally speaking they achieved it. “Degenerate” is not going to change the world of death metal, nor is it going to ever enter the alumni of death metal classics. But in an oversaturated subgenre, finding something that’s made by a youngish band and it’s really listen-worthy is something that has to by pointed out and praised. Good job, ladies!
- Information
- Released: 2010
- Label: Metal Blade/Rising Records
- Website: Trigger The Bloodshed MySpace
- Band
- Jonny Burgan: vocals
- Rob Purnell: guitar
- Martyn Evans: guitar
- Dave Purnell: bass
- Dan Wilding: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. A vision showing nothing
- 02. De-breed
- 03. Hollow prophecy
- 04. Dead vein
- 05. Dethrone
- 06. A sterile existence
- 07. The soulful dead
- 08. Until kingdom come
- 09. Whited sepulcher (bonus track)
