Dawn Of Demise are heavy; they definitely have that going for them.
This heaviness is not the heaviness born of sheer blasting force, nor of abrasive chaotic clamor. This heaviness is the heaviness of a tightly wound bludgeoning machine, the heaviness of, say, a tank as it crushes whatever’s in its path. It’s just doing its thing, and it has no intention of stopping. It’s slow and steady, methodical, unrelenting. It’s awesome in both the literal and slang senses of the term. It’s also been done before, sometimes better but more often not. (Now I’m talking solely about the music, not the tank.) If you demand originality, then you’ll find it elsewhere. If you’re looking for bruising, uncluttered, unfettered death metal, then you’re in the right place.
This quintet hails from Denmark, and they’ve clearly been studying up on their vintage NYDM. They aren’t as technical as Suffocation or as busy as Cannibal Corpse, but where they succeed is in their tightness, their precision-point surgical pounding. Hate Takes Its Form is full of groovy riffs, flying double-kicks, and the occasional sweet guitar solo, but more than that, it’s full of some simple, effective, killer riffs. On the production front, Jacob Hanson’s mix is perfect—the kick drum is punchy; the guitars are sharp and still warm.
Hate is squarely in the groove vein, not so much the Nile-styled heaviness-through-density approach, and it really works because there’s a palpable sense of energy to the music, a sense of the band being tight and really knowing how to make the music move without just pushing forward as fast as possible. Most of the record alternates between a lumbering midtempo and some slower moments that will crush you at a crawl like that tank I was talking about. The more I listen, the more I like the fact that the band’s above-average grasp of song construction lets these tunes breathe, lets them go where they should without strangling them like more blast-happy bands might. This is not an exercise in speed or intensity or pushing the boundaries—it’s just a damn good death metal record that knows when to run and when to slow it down. Nothing here is reinventing the wheel, but I can think of a dozen records I’ve picked up in the last year that were more experimental, more adventurous, and infinitely less enjoyable. Hate Takes Its Form isn’t a stroke of genius or an artistic statement so much as it…just…rocks.
Now, as good as Hate has proven itself to be, I have two minor issues—the first, the primary, is that I don’t particularly love the gurgled, choked vocals. They’re fine in gore-grind and all, but I’m not loving it here. Vocalist Scott Jensen has a powerful natural growl, as well as a pretty good scream, and I’d be happier if he stuck to those and lost the EQed gurgle altogether. The second one is that a few of these songs, particularly the album-opening title track, will get going on a good riff and then sort of tail off or change gears without the level of resolution that I crave. To use that example, in the title track, it gets going right at the end on a stomping half-time riff (yes, moshable—deal with it), and then it just starts fading out… I dunno—I’m not a songwriter, but I think it could’ve been expanded upon and really sucked me in and then exploded back into something awesome. But then again, the album still smokes, so stop by later because I’m handing out grains of salt to take those criticisms with. Have one; they’re on the house.
But seriously folks, Dawn Of Demise kicks it old-school, and they definitely kick it. If you’re into Cryptopsy technique or nonstop hyper-blasting, then don’t bother. If you just want to drink some booze, crank up some stomping death metal shit and jump around like a nutjob, then I’d suggest two things: 1) check out this record, and 2) don’t live at my old apartment complex because they get all pissed when you do that. Stupid old people.
