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Bedlam Of Cacophony - [Demo 2007]

Friday, 08 February 2008

Editor's rating

7.7

out of 10

Reviewed by:
Chad Coup
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Friday, 08 February 2008
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Music Information

Track Listing:
01. The Perverse
02. Opium Dreams
03. Oppidan Wasteland

Artist: Bedlam Of Cacophony
Title: [Demo 2007]
Genre: Grindcore • Death Metal
Release Date: 25 September 2007
Format: Demo
Country: United States of America
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CD-R; self-made and released.

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Editor review

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful


Overall rating (weighted)		7.7
Musicianship		8.0
Composition		8.0
Experimentation		8.0
Production		6.0
Value		8.0

This is some pretty awesome technical death metal in the vein of Psycroptic and Atheretic coming from California. The state has been a hotbed for this kind of music, such as Ivebeenshot, Odious Mortem, Brain Drill, and Decrepit Birth. Now, this band has delivered a promising 3-song demo that showcases their creative compositional skills that bow to death metal conventions but also create new paths leading to the furious tech metal pools like The Crinn, Orgone and Psyopus.

The guitar works shows a ton of dexterity and a good ear for knowing when to let up the grinding parts and blend them seamlessly and uniquely with the odd-sounding tech parts. I can't hear the bass clearly, unfortunately, but I'm sure it's doing its job. Drums, however, sound pretty good and can change up tempos at the drop of a hat. There are plenty of crashes here; rides are used, but only to add subtle accents to choice parts of each song. This gives the music an immediate, devastating nature. The major element here is the vocal performance. I can take prevalent vocals, but these vocals never really give up. It seems as if the demo vocalist was trying too hard to be tonally diverse. He succeeds most of the time, but the vocals end up distracting from the rest of the instruments.

These three songs are pretty indicative of what BOC is going for. The first track is a highly satisfying 75-second mini-masterpiece of technical grind. The second track goes for more atmosphere and space; the chuggy parts are highly tasteful and only add to the many layers and textures of this song. Finally, the last track gives way to a very surprising twist: halfway through, it breaks down into a math-rock ditty not unlike 80s King Crimson or an "Imogen's Puzzle." This proves to me that BOC has even more going on upstairs than this demo previously led me to believe. They are interested in creating intense technical death metal that also leaves room for experimentation, space, a diverse tonal palette, and plenty of room for improving their already well-defined sound. It is also worth nothing that Lee Artavia, vocalist for Ivebeenshot, joined BOC in this year of 2008 to fulfill vocal duties. Expect this band to become even more devastating.

Music Information

Promo

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