ALBUM REVIEW: Speciation – Faceless Burial
FACELESS BURIAL‘s sophomore album is a fantastic piece of retro-sounding death metal that innovates without losing that old-school sound. Speciation is only six songs long, but what a fantastic six songs they are – assaulting the listener’s aural sense for 36 brutal minutes. The Aussie band manage to meld their signature death metal sound with elements of doom, sounding like a group of five rather than just three. With some fantastic song titles in the mix, this is a must-listen for any death metal fans.
Opener Worship is relatively straight forward as things go – as well as having easily the most normal title on the entire album, it is also pretty much just a straight barrage of sonic battery. Max Kohane’s double kick is out in full force (and is utilised a lot throughout the record), whilst Fuj’ guitar parts are not overly complicated – instead just big riffs. The vocals provided by Alex Macfarlane are sparing here, with his bass-playing acting as his big contribution on this opener. It is track two, and arguably the best titled song on the album, Limbic Infirmary where things really get interesting. With elements of doom metal creeping in and isolated guitars as a contrast to Kohane’s backing drums this is a song that is all over the place but in the best kind of way. Macfarlane’s vocals really get a chance to shine strong here too – with barely comprehensible lyrics and some brutally long growls towards the end of the track this is a ‘proper’ death metal track.
Three songs in and Irreparably Corpsed changes up the formula a bit. Adding in some elements that have arguably been at least inspired by a bit of hardcore, with a fantastic tempo shift approximately three minutes in. This is also followed by a build-up to an ending that is almost a breakdown, signalled by Kohane’s drum-roll. This is easily the most ‘moshable’ song on the entire record, and potentially their biggest cross-over away from death metal too. Title track Speciation sees the trio move back towards their usual, however with elements of doom metal re-added, including lots of little pauses that help serve the ambience of the song. Special consideration here must be given to Fuj’s guitar pieces as he fantastically differentiates each song – but especially Speciation – from each other.
The bemusingly named Spuming Catarrhal Gruel is the penultimate song on the album, and as its name suggests it is one of the most frantic and heavy tracks on this record. With Kohane’s drums pushing the track forward at blistering pace, this is a song for blast-beat lovers. However interestingly there is also our first hint at melody – with an actual guitar solo that doesn’t detract from the brutality, mainly because it doesn’t overstay its welcome before Kohane launches back into his double kick. Funnily enough final song Ravished to the Unknown actually has one of the more normal titles on this album, and is a brilliant ending to a surprisingly fun record. Every single member of the trio has a chance to shine, with Macfarlane adding vocals in just before a bit of a drum solo, whilst Fuj’s repeated riff underscores the entire song. If you were to introduce someone to FACELESS BURIAL, this would be an excellent starting point.
Overall this is a great piece of death metal, from a band who are still finding their sound – only two albums in and already the Australians have managed to make something that draws from many different elements of heavy music, but is still unmistakably death metal. They’ve also managed to do something that very few death metal bands do, and that’s make death metal fun! Not lyrically or vocally, but the instrumentation doesn’t sound like a band trying to be deadly serious – but instead the amount of sudden tempo changes are a clear signal of a band enjoying what they are doing, and it really works. Keep an eye on FACELESS BURIAL, as there is definitely much more on the way.
Rating: 7/10
Speciation is out now via Dark Descent Records.
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