Disowning

Disowning

Human Cattle

XenoKorp

12 July 2019

This French/Canadian band’s sound is coherent from song to song in a consistent way. The vocals are gruff growling but project a lot of skill and strength in the art of the brutal voice. The drumming goes into blasting, but the blasting is not the centerpiece of the work, and there’s a flow to the timekeeping. Likewise, the guitars are not much of anything else besides death metal, and there’s a confident competence in the playing that is very ear-catching for die-hard fans of the genre. The band seems to be focused not on fitting into the specific rules of a subgenre but is more concerned with turning in a quality recording with good songs. Just as important, the quality is easily audible as soon as the album begins.

Given that this is not melodic, is the lack of melody a problem? Well, it is not melodic, but the soloing offers pretty cool moments, and the riffs do have strong points, it is fast, there’s a groove, there’s heaviness, a sensibility for the style. The old-school fans will find the brutality and speed to be selling points for this album, while younger fans may enjoy the production and the grooving heaviness. This is death metal, and virtually nothing else. For instance, there’s almost nothing here for those looking for black metal or melodic death metal influences, while the big fanatics of upfront, straightforward death, should find the album something to enjoy in various degrees.

Five of these songs were previously released as an EP in 2018 (apparently from a 2015 demo). Thus, for people who already have the EP, they are getting five new songs. The album ultimately is a listen that brings together a bit of the old school and a bit of the modern in death metal for a satisfying, enjoyable exercise in no-nonsense death.

DISOWNING "Human Cattle" [Full Album HD] https://youtu.be/z0e1K8N3Z1w

xenokorp.bandcamp.com/album/human-cattle

xenokorp.bandcamp.com/album/battle-of-neverness