  
Massacre/Sound Pollution
DECREPIT BIRTH from Santa Cruz, California, play technical death metal, and has done so since 2001. The band is a three man show; Matt Sotelo, guitars, Bill Robinson, vocals, and Joel Horner, bass. I can´t make out anything about the drums, but KC Howard used to play them. Zach Ohren (IMMOLATION, SUFFOCATION)has produced the album, and the cover was supplied by Dan Seagrove (ENTOMBED, MORBID ANGEL etc.). Vocalist Bill says it´s death metal from the soul, we´ll see about that.
As is customary to a bunch of technically inclined they open with guitar picking in the long-titled “(a Departure of the Sun) Ignite the Tesla Coil”. Even the forthcoming heaviness keeps what the info sheet promises, and the interception of some acoustic guitar work feels very good. Bill´s growl is blurred and my least favorite feature. They are compared to CYNIC and DEATH, which is on the spot. The guitar riffs are melodic and interesting, and the nylon stringed parts neat. The drumming seems machine like, but I leave that up to you to decide. On some occasions I would have preferred clean vocals, but mostly the growl seems in the right place, in spite of the chosen style. The title track offers some frantic riffing, and the melodic guitar work is top-notch. The title track alone is an enormous effort, and “The Quickening of Time” is a fine equivalent. The instrumental “Sea of Memories” is also sheer brilliance. Eight more tracks of that caliber would have resulted in a 5/5 review. What strikes me is that they keep the songs fairly short, why not go for excellence and try one or two longer opuses? The talent is there. With some minor changes this lot has a great future. But this album is highly worth checking out anyway.
Track List
(A Departure of the Sun)Ignite the Tesla Coil
Metatron
Resonance
Polarity
Solar Impulse
Mirroring Dimensions
A Brief Odyssey in Time
The Quickening of Time
Sea of Memories
Symbiosis
Darkness Embrace
www.massacre-records.de www.myspace.com/decrepitbirth
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