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World Under Blood: Tactical

11/10/11 || Judge Edo

“NOOOOOO!!!” I screamed. “MY DILDOS, MY BEAUTIFUL DILDOS!!!!!” My face illuminated by the glow of the flames emanating from the recently vacated shack. I could hear the wail of fire trucks and police in the background. Shaking my fist to the sky I realized that my part time, low cost dildo manufacturing center would be closed for quite some time. Suddenly feeling directionless in my capitalist pursuits I decided to meander toward my apartment, preferably before I had to answer any questions to authorities.* Once home, I was unsure what to do with my evening to say the least. Sitting at my computer, I was about to search how to create new non-flammable dildos when I saw the debut release from World Under Blood. Perhaps reviewing it would cheer me up, I thought to myself.

*(Disclaimer: this may or may not have happened in a cloudy daze after head trauma)

The opener “A god among the waste” starts with some fuck-all blasting right out of the gate by Mr. Tim-drummer-for-every-band-in-recent-years-Yeung. Immediately you get the idea of the variation on the album. There’s deep guttural growls, mid-range rasps and some lengthy screams as well. This is all in addition to clean vocals, all courtesy of Deron Miller. You get a jizz-filled sack of melody as well, make no mistake about it. Like a porn star in a gang-bang, you’ll find there’s a lot to take in at once, but not all of it is pleasant.

As much as I admired the effort toward this much variety, the opening vocal lines seem a bit awkward against the guitar riffs, seeming to fall flat or sharp. Fortunately this awkward feeling with clean vocals seems to be largely confined to the first track and each use of clean vocals seems to be an improvement from the last. Case in point by the fifth track, “Purgatory dormitory” Miller really utilizes flashes of clean vocals effectively and competently. This also leads to one of the best choruses on the album-and don‘t worry, it’s not some bullshit sing along, these are some of the best growls and screams on the album. “Tactical” also boasts some great soloing firepower between Miller, Luke Jaeger, and Mr. James-fucking-Murphy himself.

If anything, this album is consistent, for better or worse. Track by track you have the same basic ingredients for songs and the old school death metal influences shine through, i.e. Malevolent Creation. Still, I feel the second half of the album is the stronger of the two, as the band seems to find more of a distinct personality in focused songwriting. “Tactical” has an interesting breather in “Revere’s tears” with an instrumental intro and groove to spare along with some great solos by Jaeger. Rounding out the track list is a very strong cover of Megadeth “Wake up dead” and a solid Malevolent Creation cover of “Alliance or war”.

Being a relatively accessible melo-death release, song structure isn’t the most advanced. I’m not asking for fucking “Crimson” but some less predictable arrangements might help. The songs aren’t bad, you just never get that feeling that the band turns a corner and satisfies you with an unexpected gamble that really pays off. I mean, play “A god among the waste” and “Dead and still in pain” back to back. Go ahead, I’ll wait…

…

Finished?

Good. Hear any similarities in structure and execution? I thought so.

“Tactical” is a very, very solid album with some cream-dream moments mixed in for the pleasure of your ear-pussies. It’s a strong debut from the band, and you can really hear the focus increase as the album progresses. The sometimes metalcore-ish vocals didn’t do it for me (most obvious in the opening track), if that’s the thing that pitches a tent for you, so be it. I’ll take the more intense rasps/screams Miller has to offer. “Tactical” is also on the short side for original material, clocking in at around 34 minutes. Now I’m not saying they need to make an hour long lp, but, fuck, it isn’t the length but what you do with it that counts (at least that’s what the prostitutes downtown tell me before I tell them my adult dick hasn’t grown in yet) – what was I saying?

Ah. World Under Blood falls short on the time department and it doesn’t feel like they’ve created a great deal of depth in their songs. Accessible and smooth going down? Yep. Earth-shattering? No. This is a good starting point for a promising band, hopefully they learn from this album and come back with an even stronger sophomore effort.

Information
Released: 2011
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Website: World Under Blood MySpace
Band
Deron Miller: vocals, guitar, bass, keys
Luke Jaeger: guitar
Risha Eryavec: bass
Tim Yeung: drums, keys

Tracklist
01. A God Among the Waste
02. Into the Arms of Cruelty
03. Pyro-Compulsive
04. Dead and Still in Pain
05. Purgatory Dormitory
06. Under the Autumn Low
07. I Can’t Stand His Name
08. Revere’s Tears
09. Wake Up Dead (Megadeth cover)
10. Alliance or War (Malevolent Creation cover)

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