Once, the new generations of Metal bands would have turned their gaze towards the likes of Killswitch Engage, embracing the heavy/clean path and doing their best to be the latest thing in what was unironically referred to as the ‘New Wave Of American Metal’. The fact that a couple of years down the line you’re more likely to find the up-and-comers embracing Suffocation, Cryptopsy and other, generally brutal bands says much about the tastes of today’s youth. Nowadays, if a band comes along with a name like ‘The Grieving Process’, instead of the insipid, whiny, post-emo crap that you’d expect, we get pretty heavy Death Metal, with just enough Hardcore for the kids to jump around to.

This is tight, technical Cannibal Corpse worship with an eye for a Suffocationesque mosh riff and that typical ‘we’ve got a great drummer’ battery that is the first barrier in The Grieving Process’ way: if you’re one of the legion that complain about Lars’ bong-y snare drum on St Anger, you’d do best to look away now, as this is very near unbearable. Yes, it does make the band sound a bit like early Cryptopsy; but anyone who needs telling that this won’t live up to the Canadian godfathers shouldn’t be listening to Brutal Death anyways.

Need it also be stated that although there was the odd breakdown and enough riff-changes to keep you awake, there’s nothing that makes this a must-buy? Sure, we the Brutal Death public more than appreciate having new bands actually capable of making that gorgeous racket, but if you expect us to buy the CDs there’d better be a bit more depth to it. The songs on offer here are much too samey to be noteworthy, and sorry, but unless you’re Mortician and use film samples to actually further your sound, stay the hell away from them.

As an EP, Assimilated Deformation works fine. There’s a weird Noise-y intro, lots of brutal tech-riffs and beats that’ll get the most reluctant Metaller bouncing about, and a closing song that breaks the three-minute-odd limit, and all in under half an hour. When it’s over, however, there’s a sense of relief – Brutal Death Metal is nothing if it can’t keep your interest, and when it start to feel like an ordeal, something’s gone wrong. Give this band the benefit of the doubt, however, and for a quick dose of brutality you won’t go wrong. Here’s hoping the album takes more chances.