Hitting a homerun but falling short on the long track
Poland isn't as poor in metal bands as one would think. Apart from the obvious bands like Behemoth and Vader, the eastern European country is also host to a healthy scene of lesser known death metal bands of a genuinely high quality. Stillborn borrows several elements from black metal, leaning heavily towards an early South American sound, albeit a variant more under control.
Boasting a severe arsenal of semi-technical and fast paced blackened death metal, peppered by tons of blast beats, Stillborn's fourth album is by no means a light weight in the genre. Their sound is inherently malevolent and sinister, and their focus on blasphemic themes fits their tone and style perfectly. What they do they do well, conjuring up vicious demons and roars from the rumbling dungeons of hell. Ataman's vocals are dry as bone, and Killer's tremolo-based riffs cut like razors. Stillborn have clearly found a great blueprint by the time they've made their fourth offering.
Boasting a severe arsenal of semi-technical and fast paced blackened death metal, peppered by tons of blast beats, Stillborn's fourth album is by no means a light weight in the genre. Their sound is inherently malevolent and sinister, and their focus on blasphemic themes fits their tone and style perfectly. What they do they do well, conjuring up vicious demons and roars from the rumbling dungeons of hell. Ataman's vocals are dry as bone, and Killer's tremolo-based riffs cut like razors. Stillborn have clearly found a great blueprint by the time they've made their fourth offering.
"The album is a monster and you're constantly assaulted by its loathesome tenets, leaving you with no time to digest what you're taking in."
What Los Asesinos del Sur really lacks is hooks. Getting fully immersed in Stillborn, other than appreciating their sound as background noise, takes time, and as a result no one track truly stands out. The album is a monster and you're constantly assaulted by its loathesome tenets, leaving you with no time to digest what you're taking in. Other than a few tracks, most offerings on Los Asesinos del Sur tend to be more of a listen-and-forget type of deal. There are only few slower parts to fully underscore the gravity and ferocity of the uptempo sections and this serves as a reminder of the greatest threat to extreme metal genres. There's simply too much focus on making it extreme, with the essence - that which makes it memorable - being forgotten in the process.
To boil it all down to a few sentences, Stillborn's Los Asesinos del Sur is worthy of praise, and even if this review might seem harsh, the album is still above average. If you can't get your dirty death metal libido satisfied, this album is for you.
To boil it all down to a few sentences, Stillborn's Los Asesinos del Sur is worthy of praise, and even if this review might seem harsh, the album is still above average. If you can't get your dirty death metal libido satisfied, this album is for you.
7/10
Released in 2011 by Ataman Productions
Links
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What did you think of Stillborn's "Los Asesinos del Sur"?
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What did you think of Stillborn's "Los Asesinos del Sur"?
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