Death Heaven - Techno Decomposition World
Self-released - 2005
By Philip Whitehouse
Italian quartet Death Heaven released this demo in February of 2005, and a quick Google search will reveal a more or less uniformly positive critical reception. Techno Decomposition World deserves the positive attention too - while it's not exactly an earth-shattering death metal landmark, it does showcase a very promising young technical death metal band with the potential to carry their sound to far higher climes. The demo was engineered by the group's vocalist/guitarist Andrea, who was 18 at the time. He's done a pretty damned good job - I mean, Neil Kernon won't be shaking in his boots, but you can hear everything clearly, there is some nice, limited integration of samples and electronic elements into the mix, and the guitar tone is pretty thick.
The material itself is as ambitious as the undertaking - long, epic technical death metal songs with complex and varied song structures, encompassing mid-tempo groove, blastbeat frenzies, extended fret-melting lead breaks and stop-on-a-dime tempo changes. All in all, pretty impressive stuff. However, the band have yet to fully realise their potential. For instance, the band seem to have gotten so wrapped up in creating five to ten minute tracks that they've ended up tossing every musical idea they've had into the mix, resulting in the compositions occasionally feeling meandering and bloated. There are stunning riffs, to be sure, but there are also some pretty mediocre ones padding out the running time. Also, the musicianship, while accomplished, isn't as tight as it could be. This criticism is particularly aimed at the drummer, who, while obviously talented, occasionally appears to struggle to keep time and ends up delivering a few sloppy fills and double-kick patterns, affecting the overall tightness and punch of the material.
Despite these criticisms, however, Techno Decomposition World is definitely worthy of the attention of any fan of ambitious, technical death metal - if you can get around the too-long track lengths and the occasional mistimed drum fill, there is some excellent music to be heard here (check out the acoustic guitar passage in 'The Cannibal Of Milwaukee', for instance). I'll be listening to this one again, and await with great interest the next effort from this promising group.
7/10 (UM's Review Rating Scale)
Death Heaven's Official Website
Self-released - 2005
By Philip Whitehouse
Italian quartet Death Heaven released this demo in February of 2005, and a quick Google search will reveal a more or less uniformly positive critical reception. Techno Decomposition World deserves the positive attention too - while it's not exactly an earth-shattering death metal landmark, it does showcase a very promising young technical death metal band with the potential to carry their sound to far higher climes. The demo was engineered by the group's vocalist/guitarist Andrea, who was 18 at the time. He's done a pretty damned good job - I mean, Neil Kernon won't be shaking in his boots, but you can hear everything clearly, there is some nice, limited integration of samples and electronic elements into the mix, and the guitar tone is pretty thick.
The material itself is as ambitious as the undertaking - long, epic technical death metal songs with complex and varied song structures, encompassing mid-tempo groove, blastbeat frenzies, extended fret-melting lead breaks and stop-on-a-dime tempo changes. All in all, pretty impressive stuff. However, the band have yet to fully realise their potential. For instance, the band seem to have gotten so wrapped up in creating five to ten minute tracks that they've ended up tossing every musical idea they've had into the mix, resulting in the compositions occasionally feeling meandering and bloated. There are stunning riffs, to be sure, but there are also some pretty mediocre ones padding out the running time. Also, the musicianship, while accomplished, isn't as tight as it could be. This criticism is particularly aimed at the drummer, who, while obviously talented, occasionally appears to struggle to keep time and ends up delivering a few sloppy fills and double-kick patterns, affecting the overall tightness and punch of the material.
Despite these criticisms, however, Techno Decomposition World is definitely worthy of the attention of any fan of ambitious, technical death metal - if you can get around the too-long track lengths and the occasional mistimed drum fill, there is some excellent music to be heard here (check out the acoustic guitar passage in 'The Cannibal Of Milwaukee', for instance). I'll be listening to this one again, and await with great interest the next effort from this promising group.
7/10 (UM's Review Rating Scale)
Death Heaven's Official Website
