Cardiac Arrest - Cadaverous Presence (CD)

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CARDIAC ARREST was the first supporting band to the latest ROTTING CHRIST concert at the town of Chicago. I really liked them, especially for their old-school sound and their honest on stage performance. Actually, their high spirit helped us to warm our bodies and ears a little bit since it was a really cold night. After their performance, I talked to Adam who informed me that they were preparing their second full-length album and I made him to promise me that he would send me a promo copy as soon as it has been ready.
The band hails from Wheaton of USA and was formed by Jim Nichols and Adam Scott sometime in 1997. From their formation they had gone through several lineup changes and actually remained silent for almost a year, starting from 2003. The band's reactivation was followed by their debut release in the form of a MCD entitled Heart Stopping Death ROT. After some live shows and more lineup changes CARDIAC ARREST managed to release their first full-length album, Morgue Mutilations, in early 2006.
So, in the middle of 2008 the American band - having signed a record deal with Epitomite Productions - is proud to release their brand new Death/Grind album entitled Cadaverous Presence. If you take some time and visit the band's MySpace page you will be informed that their influences come from the early Death Metal scene with bands like CANNIBAL CORPSE and - of course - DEATH. Actually, the aforementioned influences can pretty much describe what will happen if you press the play button on your CD player. Death - almost Grindcore - vocals, fast drum breaks and guitar shreds that blow your mind. The album opens with the instrumental The Inevitable, that bears a slow yet heavy tormenting tempo; the headbanging rhythm is for warming up your neck since the homonymous song is up next. Cadaverous Presence gets you by the throat with fast ultra distorted guitars and a rhythm section that looks towards the heaviness of SIX FEET UNDER. This is a self-produced release, so you can excuse the rather dry sound in the drums and the minor problems in the mixing process. In fact, I found that due to this production the album sounds really old-school, waking some memories when this Metal scene was born. Judging by the album's artwork and song titles you can easily guess the theme of the lyrics which fille with Gore! I really enjoyed In His Name They Spill Blood with the neck-snapping fast break, Make Them Die Slowly, with the SLAYER-esque guitar solos in, and the ton-heavy Among Us that justifies the MORBID ANGEL influence.
I don't know whether this band can make a difference in the US market that is flooded with all this shitty Emo/Nu Metal scene, but I definitely know that CARDIAC ARREST can give you some excellent excuses for some quality decent heabanging time. Their raw and bloody covered sound will remind the old and teach the young about the early days of the Death Metal genre. As I said, this album was self-produced so no rate here. You can check them out at their MySpace page by clicking here.