A small bit of research on this band and it appears they are vilified from almost every quarter on any of their releases and this their second full length has been given the same treatment, so is Waking The Cadaver really that bad. Well I can certainly understand why traditional death metallers would dislike their brand of ultra brutal death metal which is saturated with slams and beatdowns but I don’t see why they are ritually slagged off. Granted deathcore is typically slated for its simplistic riffing style which is tuned so low only a whale can decipher it meaningfully but that said these type of acts do inject melody and groove into their music in a way that Mastic Scum or Waco Jesus do.
Kicking off with “Beyond Cops” it is easy to see why some would despise the over clinical snare beat which blurs into one seamless fuzz but to say it is shit would be wrong really. Any follower of deathcore is certainly going to like this and even if the majority of the songs are formulaic I enjoyed the endless battering with macho barked vocals similar to Man Must Die. Musically this fits in with bands like Ingested, Suicide Silence, etc. Whilst not as technical as one would expect the slamming traits are prevalent throughout and critically they appear for the sake of it rather than adding substance to the songs.
“Sadistic Tortures” has a slower dirge like fury that borders sludge territory before the touch paper is lit for the forthcoming slam riff giving any young pit monger plenty to bounce around to and complimented by the hand waving ferocity we all expect in this genre. Dying Fetus have a lot to thank for or hate for in this genre as many of the songs are packed with that crushing beatdown double bass carnage and catchy riffing. Case in point is “Terminate With Extreme Prejudice” which is more brutal than most songs you’ll hear in deathcore thanks to its massive Dying Fetus bounce riffing. “Suffering Upon Revenge” has vocals so low they’re close to being ridiculous though the song is the closest to proper death metal than anything else on the album and has some decent Cannibal Corpse traits, though the slam is never far away.
Whilst this is never going to win purist death metal fans over “Beyond Cops, Beyond God” is good slamming gore groove (as the band puts it) even if overall it is a little repetitive in places.
http://www.wakingthecadaver.net
http://www.myspace.com/wakingthecadaver
