Somewhere twixt Englishmen throwing some bolts (one in this band in fact) and good old red-blooded ‘Mericans getting Butchered at Birth in the Florida Foreverglade(s) lies DeathCollector. What I’m tellin’ ya, son is that they’re true death metal, ya bastards!

They don’t take long to show you and they keep it simple. Meat and potatoes death metal is the name of the game here. The guitar tone is crisp as well as crunchy. Like hash browns. Potatoes, as I mentioned? When the third track “DeathCollector” starts after a few short ones, the vocals in some parts take on a sewer-drenched effect. You’ll know what I mean when you hear it. While the song itself could be considered mid-pace, their “mid-pace” is still quite fast. There is certainly more of an Asphyx doomy part with about a minute left, but it gives way to some speed quickly.

My favorite track is the fifth one, “Terrorizer.” There are some more of those sewer-drenched vocals, but where the track shines is about halfway through with a monstrous breakdown. However, in this section, while it’s heavy as hell, I don’t feel like the production allowed for its heft to properly shine. Perhaps that’s the main downfall of this otherwise solid affair. I could have used some more bass and fuller guitars. While not bad, it just sounds sterile. Just the way I like my women.

 

Speaking of women, I like to provide them an “Internal Expansion,” so track 7 is right up my alley… or theirs. Who knows at this point? It’s a nearly five-minute pummeling number, which I once again believe would have benefitted from a healthier production as well as some vocal variety.

Moving on, another slower track, relatively speaking, stands out to me. It’s track 9, the closer. It’s called “Rearview Guilt” and is the longest one at slightly over 5 minutes. As I’ve listened further, I do hear the bass more, specifically in this track. Around a minute in, it felt as if the band was going to appease those who like to pick up change in the pit, but it wasn’t meant to be, just back into the verse. After around 4 minutes, I felt sure it was coming. It had to! The song instead gets doomy until a raucous, brief solo section at the end.

That’s it and I’m whelmed. Death metal has been my favorite genre for the last couple of years. What the kids are doing is all right with me. Maybe that’s why I’m not as fond of this. It’s just not that specific kind of nasty I long for these days. If you’re into the old-school, meat-and-potatoes death metal, this release should certainly charm you out of some cash in your wallet.

[Visit the band's website]

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