Annotations of an Autopsy - Before the Throne of Infection

Despite the constant hate towards this band from the "real" and "true" corners of the death metal community, Annotations of an Autopsy seem to have, over the years, done quite well for themselves in outliving the deathcore trend and showing that they are more than just a flash in the pan. This album might have been out on the fairly trendy-underground Siege of Amida but they have gone on to have stuff released on Nuclear Blast; a big name in metal music.

Being a lot more polished than their initial EP, we see a whole new side to Annotations on their debut album, Before the Throne of Infection. It is only album number one and already the deathcore stylings are falling to the wayside; nostalgia of that era exists in a re-recording of the song "Welcome to Sludge City" (renamed here simply "Sludge City"), and the odd gang-chorus still sneaks in every now and then, but for the most part what we get here is a somewhat commercialized spin on the slamming / brutal death metal template. Does that mean there are no more twats with silly sideways haircuts out there walking around with hoodies that read "Stay Sludge" on the top, without knowing what the fuck sludge actually is? Good.

The clean guitar passages are frankly pointless, but songs such as "Fisted To The Point Of Regurgitation" and "Prosthetic Erection" deserve a place amongst the death metal elite. It's just a shame the hardcore death metal community will never let them in.

*PS s'cuse the shitty clipped disc art on this one!

Waking The Cadaver - Beyond Cops, Beyond God

I absolutely loved the first Waking The Cadaver record but I could never truley get my chops around Beyond Cops, Beyond God. I feel that everything I love about the WTC sound is missing here; the razor-wire guitar work, the out of time gravity blasts and THAT picalo snare drum! Here WTC take their Devourment-by-numbers slam death sound and bash it head on into the more traditional brutal death studio sound. The quality is a massive improvement, but the polished as fuck drums and well rounded warm sound only serve to help disguise the charms that this band had on a rougher recording.

Also lot more time is spent this time round blasting away rather than chugging down. A good thing for some, but the endless slams in WTC's songs is what I loved so much about them! A great death metal record, but a bit too typical for me to love. Reet Reeeeeeet. Out on the gloriously shite Siege of Amida Records.