ALBUM REVIEW: Thrive On Neglect – Immortal Bird
With one album already under their belt, Chicago’s multi-genre spanning IMMORTAL BIRD are back with a vengeance on their follow-up LP Thrive On Neglect. To pen the band into just one genre would be a massive disservice to the exceptionally multi-faceted sound that IMMORTAL BIRD possess: elements of death metal, grind, black metal, and more collide to create a sound that is as unique as it is crushingly brutal. Thrive On Neglect has been expertly crafted over the better part of four years to provide a truly all killer, no filler experience, and over the seven tracks that make up the album the band leave nothing in reserve.
The album opens with Anger Breeds Contempt, a full-throttle death metal explosion, burning with an intensity akin to putting your head into a door frame and repeatedly slamming it into your temple. Ferocious blast beats and fills zipping around the kit at Mach 1 speeds underpin the syncopated double picked riffs and fierce vocals which give the track a truly savage, unrelenting feel. Adding to this feel is the beautiful dissonance found in the thick guitar arrangements and bass – most notably in the final third of the track when the bass is singled out before the next onslaught begins.
The production throughout the album is utterly phenomenal – which shouldn’t come as a surprise when a revered veteran such as Dave Otero is the manning the boards. If you’re not familiar with Otero, you’ll certainly be familiar with his work: CATTLE DECAPITATION, CEPHALIC CARNAGE, THROCULT, KHEMMIS, to name a few. The ruthless energy and murderous sound IMMORTAL BIRD already possess is elevated to incredible heights by Otero‘s expert production and this goes a long way in making Thrive On Neglect a truly remarkable piece of work.
Deeper into the album you venture, the band’s wide stylistic influences chop and change and each song brings a new aspect to the forefront. One minute you may be convinced it’s traditional death metal, then in an instant it’s grind, or more melodic death metal – his keeps the album as fresh as the first track all the way to the end. IMMORTAL BIRD provide something for every metal fan, whether you like this genre or that genre, you’re a traditionalist or a reformist, you’ll find something to love on Thrive On Neglect.
Even on the first listen it is incredibly hard to pick standout tracks from the album as every song brings something different to the table and there isn’t a single filler track in sight. Tracks like Avolition and Solace In Dead Structures provide moments of pure, unfiltered brutality, whereas House Of Anhedonia and Quisquilian Company are more melodic, thoughtful, and riff-laden. Each track is crafted expertly enough to stand confidently on its own for the listener to dip in and out of the album as they wish, but listening to the album as a complete work start to finish further hits home how cohesive and purposeful the band’s songwriting is.
If you like death metal, black metal, slam, grind, melodic death metal, or anything in between, IMMORTAL BIRD are a band you should be listening to. Thrive On Neglect as a whole is emblematic of a band really coming into their own, pushing themselves to the limit, and the outcome is sublime. The convergence of the band’s varied genre influences give the band an edge that is guaranteed to carve out a unique space for them within the scene, and their sound is sure to unify fans from a multitude of genres under the banner of IMMORTAL BIRD. Thrive On Neglect is a must-have for any fans music library, don’t miss out on this.
Rating: 8/10
Thrive On Neglect is out now via 20 Buck Spin.
Like IMMORTAL BIRD on Facebook.