HOMEGROWN: Bloodshedd's Spare No One

Before things get ugly, I would like to first and foremost point out that this entry has nothing to do with that recent Metalsucks Reader's Choice fiasco. Absolutely nothing to do with it I swear. Notice I didn't place the link here and make this a portal to your worst reading nightmare. This draft has been in my shitty laptop since I made my last trip to my good ol' local cd dealer. You heard me right, I buy homegrown stuff. And on that last visit, I came with a list that had Intolerant's Reasons for Unrest and Sin's Audio Summoned Flesh. Thing is, I always buy three from my dealer. So I was, to put it mildly, kind of forced to choose one more.

Regardless of how the more 'technically proficient' heavy musician may rate this, I can label this as one record off my collection that's a surefire trigger of a serious case of bangover. I regret brushing this band off aside when I first saw them live as the final opening act for Arch Enemy last year. Their lead singer, Jojo Book came out screaming "Destroy Heaveeeeen!!" in his full-on spiked leather clothing glory and as much as I was impressed from an image standpoint, I thought, 'what the hell..' 

But even if I wasn't dead-centered on their music that night, their rhythms had since been ripping in my head. That, for me, is something. 

And so I took the shot of getting this record just to complete my unspoken minimum order for that trip to the store, went home, and BAM! Save for the Asian diction still discernible through the growls (which is utterly forgivable as it gives the music a much more un-Caucasian touch) and that Linkin Park-esque techno filler (Time To Change All), there's really nothing to find fault about this near-perfect album. It's one ferocious killer record from start to finish, heavy and mighty brutal without leaving you jaded and wanting to put your feet up for some lighter listening. My most honest observation actually gave me the opposite, even wanting more heavy tunes! Its track after blistering track of technical death but with heavy vestiges of thrash, catered with much modern effects, blindingly fast tandem sweep picks, ultra-sonic blast beats, chainsaw right hand chugging and everything insane in between. That's not even mentioning how they have managed to pull-off some otherworldly stuff thrown in to the pot. Some songs just break into Manila Sound Department style infused jazz, Spanish Guitars, and other bits of which I have no words to describe. Impossible? Hah! Well then get the record and let the beast walk you through it.

While I know most of my readers are from the old school and more accessible flank of heavy music, I can't say I took the time sieving through this album to describe it for them. It wasn't an effort at all, grasping the tracks. And it's proof enough that while I'm from the Daddy Rock genre, I'm truly digging this one.  

From the official Tower of Doom You Tube channel, here's Time For You To Die.

Another teaser for the supposedly upcoming Beast 696 official video, which said September 2010!