ALBUM REVIEW: Mass Rebel Infest – Mental Cavity

Bands like MENTAL CAVITY seem to come thick and fast nowadays. In a way, that sums up both their music and the prevalence of their sound at the moment. Specifically, the Canberra-based four-piece deal in the tried and tested mix of death metal and hardcore. It’s a combination which has proved fruitful for many bands in recent years, and one the Aussies hope to enjoy similar luck with for their second full-length, Mass Rebel Infest. As things go, this record definitely sits more heavily on the death metal side of the see-saw, drawing strong influence from bands like MORBID ANGEL and AUTOPSY.

From the outset, it’s clear MENTAL CAVITY know their way around a hefty riff. To be honest, it would be a bit of a problem if they didn’t. Opener Interred, Awoke gets us off to a swampy start before swiftly kicking into the first of the record’s many raging examples. Second track Fractured Anvil takes things up a notch further, making for a thrash-tinged early highlight. Many more follow, with riff-heavy tracks like Micro Brain Foot Soldier and Infest providing all but guaranteed head-banging and stinkfaces. The solid guitar work doesn’t stop there either. Between them, the duo of Aaron Osborne and Rohan Todd offer up plenty of impressive death metal-esque leads and solos. The opener is another good example in this regard, as is fourth track Downtrodden, which boasts a quickfire solo stuffed full of frantic tapping and whammy bar dive-bombs.

As for the hardcore element of the band’s sound, there is a high-level of d-beat driven energy to many of the tracks. Third track Mask Tearer is an early and obvious example, much of its sub-two-minute runtime tearing along at breakneck speed. The same is true of the back-to-back blasts of Anointing The Filth and Place Of Ease. The band’s punkier leanings are also on show in the record’s closing two tracks. These take the form of a pair of covers – the first of New York hardcore legends CRO-MAGS‘ It’s The Limit, and the second of crust punks DISRUPT‘s Mindlock. Both of these benefit from a more modern production to become significantly beefier than their originals, and both are absolutely blistering.

In general, Mass Rebel Infest ticks pretty much all the boxes it needs to. Guitarist Osborne and bassist Alex Young both handle vocals on the record, mostly opting for low guttural growls. As you might expect, these aren’t all that exceptional, but they fit well with the band’s sound nonetheless. The production, handled by Taylor Young, is solid too. It’s neither too polished nor too muddy, instead boasting a good level of grit and bleed.

Unfortunately, Mass Rebel Infest also falls into many of the trappings common to records of its ilk. It doesn’t really offer much we haven’t heard before. It’s also quite one note, focusing on chunky heavy aggro with little variation dynamic or otherwise. With a runtime of 28 minutes, it’s hardly a bloated record, but the fact that it stays almost exclusively in one lane does mean the tracks start to blend into one another to an extent.

At the end of the day, MENTAL CAVITY seem to have their sights set on one sonic strategy and stick to it. In that regard, Mass Rebel Infest is perfectly fine. Come for the riffs, have fun banging your head like an idiot, just don’t expect much more than that.

Rating: 6/10

Mass Rebel Infest is set for release on June 25th via Creator-Destructor Records.

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