Odious Mortem “Cryptic Implosion” CD

The latest from the mighty Willowtip is "Cryptic Implosion", the sophomore full-length from Odious Mortem, who I don't believe I had ever heard prior to this. To be honest with you I really haven't been feeling much death metal lately—new, old, whatever. I don't know why. So there's nothing about " Cryptic Implosion" that really blows me away or anything, but there are numerous aspects that hold my attention and gain my respect. For starters, there's something about the general tone of the release that interestingly blends the old and the new in a way that really works. It's technical, of course, so there are some "contemporary" leans as far as some of the winding back-and-forth runs and slightly repetitious riffing styles, but it's not forced or over the top in its complexity, so all of those elements are grounded by burly, powerful, straight up fucking death metal. The kind of shit I was all over in the early-90's, you know? Some of the layered vocal work seems Deicide-esque to me, I could see any number of the more straightforward rhythms at home on albums by Suffocation or Cannibal Corpse or a number of other heralded classics, etc. These guys don't really sound like any of those bands, though. So don't go flipping out and acting like I'm an idiot, because these are just loose reference points regarding underlying characteristics of the album, I'm not making strict comparisons by any means. Got it?

All that being said, one thing I absolutely must give these guys credit for is unloading some fuckin' raging solos on this thing. And I don't just mean they're blowing through a bunch of ultra fast 'n' flashy scales or any of that bullshit, I'm talking about real solos. You know, the kind that actually add to the songs by taking some time to develop and feeling like they were, oh, I don't know... actually composed with the surrounding elements in mind—as opposed to sounding like random interchangeable bursts. A lot of bands these days almost seem to brag about "bringing solos back" or whatever, but few of them can actually deliver the goods, so... while I'm certainly not putting Odious Mortem on a pedestal, I do commend their efforts in that department, because they definitely got my attention. I love the bass presence in the mix, too. There's just enough there to thicken up the core as well as peek out behind the guitars, and that's awesome. When all is said and done 10 tracks in 35 minutes keeps things rolling just about right, because some of the aforementioned "repetitious riffing styles" lessen the differentiation between songs, so... given the admirably "composed" nature of the lead breaks, I'd like to hear the songs themselves develop more of their own identities as well. No big deal, though (because yes, some of the tracks are basically dead on across the board already). This is a very solid record that should appeal to death metal diehards and those more tech-inclined alike, so I'll be very curious to follow the band's continued progression down the road.

Odious Mortem "Fragmented Oblivion"
Odious Mortem "The Endless Regression of Mind"

Fuck iTunes and fuck the illegal shit, too. Buy albums, dorks. And in this case there's little sense looking beyond the label, as they're cheap, fast, and don't fuck around. Get to it:

Willowtip