This the brand new release from BENEATH THE MASSACRE that hail from Canada. This album comes as a successor to Mechanics of Dysfunction that hit the stores through Prosthetic Records back in the early 2007. The band's musical identity can be described as ultra brutal Death Metal with sophisticated guitars that flirt with the term Progressive Metal in the vein of DEATH's work in Human or Individual Thought Patterns. Personally I consider this genre difficult for a new band to stand out because mixing Death Metal with Progressive finishing touches hides the danger of making music sound overloaded. Of course, I don't have a problem to listen to new music breeds but this specific sound is way too difficult to handle. BENEATH THE MASSACRE seem to know their way around in extreme music and actually prove it with their massive and solid sound. The drums are insanely fast, the vocals touch the Gore sound and the guitars are there to complicate things. I already know that this sound is difficult to digest but things don't get better even after the additional CD spins. I got the feeling of over-packed songs that most of the times confused me and eventually loose interest. Of course, there are some very good ideas here but they get lost under the heavy load of complexity. The production serves the album with the best way boosting the aggression to the maximum while supporting the Progressive Metal guitar patterns. The bass guitar has an excellent sound that makes a glorious 'appearance' during the brisk pauses in most of the tracks. Maybe my expectations were higher that they should be because Canada is a well known source of quality Metal acts and thus I got slightly disappointed with Dystopia. The saturation feeling I had during the listening process made me loose my initial interest that was born with the growl from the pit that welcomed with Condemned. On the other hand this is a new band and the good elements here can be promises from the future. But this only time will tell.
Tracklist:
Condemned Reign Of Terror Our Common Grave Harvest Of Hate The Wasteland Bitter No Future Lithium Overdose Tharsis Never More Procreating The Infection
Lineup:
Elliot Desgagnes - Vocals Christopher Bradley - Guitar Dennis Bradley - Bass Justin Rousselle - Drums