Burial Chamber - Left To Decay
Self-released
Death Metal
9 songs (33:00)
Release year: 2010
Burial Chamber
Reviewed by Khelek

There are few things more fun than an old-school, groove-based death metal band that churns out headbanging riffs and savage growls mixed with heavy drum and bass work. This was the brutal death standard in the 90s and I can sense that Burial Chamber are trying to get that same kind of energy going on their debut self-released album Left To Decay. What you're going to get here is mostly extremely heavy guitars, along with the double bass drumming and occasional blastbeats. The band sticks with simplicity most of the time on this album, so don't expect anything amazing in terms of technicality, but it is a solid death metal release with a rough, down to earth quality that is hard to find these days.

The first track reminds me of old-school rhythm-based death metal. The riffs and double bass drums are ultra-heavy, and the vocals are a low growl. The drums really start pounding towards the middle of the song and just keep pummeling you right until the end. Simple but effective. Other songs keep this simplicity, but still keep you involved. Disposed Of is a choppy, energetic track that is easy to get into and Murder Victim's slow, heavy intensity is so simple, but once again very effective. Not too many bands play stuff like this anymore. Frontman and guitarist Clint Callaghan also changes it up a bit, using some higher pitched growls. There is some interesting, mournful guitar soloing on Destruction Of Human Form; the song itself sounds desolate yet also has a catchiness that reminds me of Static-X. While excellent in its simplicity, the album can tend to get a bit monotonous due to the similarity of some of the songs. Drink The Blood is a long, plodding song that doesn't work extremely well, but is cool to have on in the background when playing a video game or something. My favorite track from the album is Necrotic Nemesis; it has some good guitar work and a more foreboding feeling than some of the other songs, yet it still manages to retain the same kind of headbanging energy that this band is striving for.

This is quite an accomplishment for a young band, especially having to self-release their album, so I have to give them credit for that. The production can be a little muddy at times, but in this genre that's almost expected and/or desired. I would really like to see these guys live; I think they could really get a crowd moving with their catchy style of death metal. The music is energetic enough to appeal to everyone, yet it keeps things very real and heavy without getting distracted. I mean they're no Skinless, but with some honing of their skills as musicians and songwriters, they have the potential to be that good. Overall a solid debut album.


Band MySpace
Killing Songs :
Disposed Of, Murder Victim, Destruction Of Human Form, Necrotic Nemesis
Khelek quoted 78 / 100
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