Music, visual-art, different genres of music, types of dance: Have you ever seen or heard something, only to think to yourself: "
I could never enjoy that! How do people get into that sort of thing?!"
In steps Brutal Death Metal. When I was in high school, I remember being more into straight-up Death Metal. The name
Cannibal Corpse was a household name, but really only because of my
Butchered at Birth t-shirt, and my parents' disgust with it. I actually got the shirt as a weird gift before listening to much
Cannibal Corpse. I really like the album
Butchered At Birth, but do not not really care for all of CC's works.
I started out my heavy music quests with more symphonic stuff, I was a
Cradle of Filth kid. That quickly turned into years of delving into Death Metal and, while now I am prominently a fan of Brutal Death, I remain true to my Death Metal roots and revisit them from time to time. If I met the high-school me on the street and told him that there was a genre different than Death Metal called Brutal Death Metal, high-school me would roll around laughing. I am sure many people who don't enjoy this sort of thing still do laugh, that's fine, but you ought to know what you are laughing at. Ok, enough ranting.
The album at hand for this review,
Ready For Gore, from Southern California's
Colpolscopy, was sent to me before I knew the band existed. Hearing it now, I honestly probably would have skipped over it because of the art and the album title, neither of which caught by eye as being creative or well-thought-out. I am, however, really happy
Gore House Productions sent me this. Listening to this album is what reminded me of what it feels like to start enjoying things you thought you never would.
Ready For Gore is chock-full of interesting, fun riffs and memorable slams, but it has a few things that you notice first. Some of these things are the low, gurgling vocals and the smooth, near-perfectly mixed, audio that gives every instrument, and BOTH vocalists, tons of room to shine. Yes, you read that correctly.
Ryan Gregory and
Marcos Cortez share vocal duties here, and if you listen enough, you can hear who is who. You get more than just two, distinct styles though. There are insanely low, seemingly under-water gurgles, middle toned, gravelly gutturals, some decent high screeches, and countless in-between noises that just do not sound human. A cool, organic, effect occurs throughout the album when both vocalists are layered on top of one another to sound like one. This is, I guess you could say, the third vocalist!
The instrument that I would have expected there to be more than one of, is the guitar. It is played by one man,
Jesus Cortez. The guitar compositions are definitely what allow this album to stand out.
Cortez combines generic slams with breakdowns and all over the place, grind-esque, fuzzed-out riffs that turn on a dime.
The band's name, album title, and artwork, all just had me picturing a band that would add to the rapidly growing landfill of one-hit-wonders who are out to achieve the hardest hitting slams and just use shock factor art and a medical term for a name. I warn you,
Colpolscopy is not that. It is a medical term though, one that refers to a procedure to closely examine a cervix, vagina, or vulva for signs of disease. There, now you know what to call that.
In today's world of countless sub-genres and fabricated labels, paired with the technology that gives us the ability to instantly judge things, a lot of art (music or other) gets swept under the rug too quickly. We all need to remember to keep open minds and remember, no matter what you are currently a fan of, you were not always, and may not always be, a fan of it!
I still do not much care for the cover art or album name, but the importance of those fades more and more with each listen. The bouncy, thick production makes every riff on here seem to pound your head in. The tone of the album as a whole reminds me a lot of
Parasitic Ejaculation's full-length, "
Rationing the Sacred Human Remains," (
HERE) an album that singlehandedly, and rightfully so, put that band on every Brutal Death head's radar. The drumming reminds me of that of
Kraanium, only with more fills and tempo changes.
Much like the outstanding review (
HERE) I gave to
Lack of Truth's album "
Under The Torn Flesh," this review is one I took a while to think about and write.
Ready For Gore may take a few listens, but I promise the product is worth it.
Overall, this album is a high-energy half-hour, where simplicity and barbarity meld together, throwing flashy production to the wayside.
Colpolscopy's
Ready For Gore will be ready for you to score, officially released November 29th, 2013, on
Gore House Productions. I highly recommend giving it an attentive listen! You will enjoy it!
COLPOLSCOPY
GORE HOUSE PRODUCTIONS
