Necrotic Disgorgement — Documentaries of Dementia
One of my main complaints with modern death metal is the drums. It seems bands choose speed over sound. I'm not sure if this is a triggering issue, but I don't like it. The drums sound fake and this generally takes away from the rest of the music. This is my main complaint on this album, now it's out of the way. Documentaries of Dementia is a really well produced album. I know people like muddy, lo-fi extreme metal (believe me, I like it, too), but a well produced album really pops. The guitar work on this album is pretty excellent and would be wasted in poor production. The riffing on this album is all over the place. ND drops a lot of tempo changes and the guitarists handle them deftly. The solos are clear and well done, but typical for the genre. To me, the element that really makes a death metal album is the bass. Naturally, my favorite tracks on the album are those that have the best bass. "Conceived for Incest" has a great bass line that chugs along. If you can look past the misplaced drum speed and sound, there's quite a track here. The doubled up guitars are a really cool touch that reinforces ND's technicality. The bass sounds like it's gonna rumble off the tracks in "Crack Whore Compost." This has a nice head nodding stomp along with the speed. The guitars feel a bit different on this one and just fly with tremolo picking and dance with rad riffing. "Grotesque Skeletal Reconstruction" and "Defecation Delicacy" rock on similar paths as the rest, but the bass chug seems a bit more audible. I think the drums aren't as annoying in these, so you can actually hear it.
Documentaries of Dementia is a solid brutal death metal album. While I hated the drums, it's a sound that has invaded many classic acts (Deicide, Dim Mak, Morbid Angel) and seems here to stay. I wonder if 13 year old me would like them? He's probably too busy giggling at the song titles to notice