The Berzerker - The Reawakening
Berzerker Industries - 1 September 2008
By Paddy Walsh
Many of you may be aware of The Berzerker, as they've been a fixture on Earache's roster for 4 albums worth of their industrial/gabba/death/grind hybrid. The Reawakening, the band's 5th album, sees Aussie mainman Luke Kenny free from label constraints, giving The Berzerker a new lease of life and indie spirit. A commendable move, but one that means this album won't be seeing the inside of your local HMV anytime soon - this bad boy has to be ordered directly from the band.
The most noticeable thing about The Berzerker is the liberal dosages of sampled, harsh techno beats that continuously pulse around the distinctly Carcass-esque riffage. There's always been a certain novelty to them, as they're really on their own when it comes to such noises. Furthermore, the presence of gabba is by no means token, and as such might prove a little difficult to get the head around. Such a foray into decidedly un-metal territory requires serious skill to meld with such a resolutely orthodox genre of music as death/grind. It's a shame, therefore, that The Reawakening can prove such a frustratingly flawed listen at times. The most glaring problem is the lack of cohesion between the blasting, techno-inspired sampled drums and the relentless riffing - they feel detached from one another - and because the drums are quite dominant in the mix it often sounds suspect whether they're blasting from the same, erm, grind sheet. The guitars at times seem to float away and be doing their own thing, the traditional anchorage that solid drumming provides being nullified by the off-kilter beats. As for the percussion samples used; well, the industrial-sounding bass drum is quite cool. The snare, however, is one of the most ill-thought out and grating sounds ever recorded - it's dry, clicky, too loud and completely unsuited to the all-pervasive blasting sections.
5 albums into their career and with a reasonably high profile to boot, it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect The Berzerker to have their shtick nailed by now, but few of the tracks actually work well. 'The Deception', 'Your Final Seconds' and 'Spare Parts' are all worth a listen, examples of when it all comes together to produce the unique brutality the band is striving for, but they're exceptions to the rule. If the death/grind aspects of this record had been top notch then many of its shortcomings could have been more easily forgiven, but they're mostly unremarkable, whizzing by without imprinting themselves on the listeners brain. 6 remixed tracks are also included herein (four for 'Spare Parts' and two of 'Caught in the Crossfire'). As you'd expect, they're dancier versions of the originals, yet they manage to be a far more interesting prospect than the main body of the album, and believe me that's saying something coming from a staunch techno-phobe such as myself. Ted Maul pulled off an excellent mish-mash of 'junglist' beats and death metal on their debut, mainly because they didn't forget to ensure that the parts attracting ther main demographic (i.e. the metal) were top-drawer. t's just a shame The Berzerker didn't do likewise.
Offical The Berzerker MySpace
Official Berzerker Industries Website
Berzerker Industries - 1 September 2008
By Paddy Walsh
Many of you may be aware of The Berzerker, as they've been a fixture on Earache's roster for 4 albums worth of their industrial/gabba/death/grind hybrid. The Reawakening, the band's 5th album, sees Aussie mainman Luke Kenny free from label constraints, giving The Berzerker a new lease of life and indie spirit. A commendable move, but one that means this album won't be seeing the inside of your local HMV anytime soon - this bad boy has to be ordered directly from the band.
The most noticeable thing about The Berzerker is the liberal dosages of sampled, harsh techno beats that continuously pulse around the distinctly Carcass-esque riffage. There's always been a certain novelty to them, as they're really on their own when it comes to such noises. Furthermore, the presence of gabba is by no means token, and as such might prove a little difficult to get the head around. Such a foray into decidedly un-metal territory requires serious skill to meld with such a resolutely orthodox genre of music as death/grind. It's a shame, therefore, that The Reawakening can prove such a frustratingly flawed listen at times. The most glaring problem is the lack of cohesion between the blasting, techno-inspired sampled drums and the relentless riffing - they feel detached from one another - and because the drums are quite dominant in the mix it often sounds suspect whether they're blasting from the same, erm, grind sheet. The guitars at times seem to float away and be doing their own thing, the traditional anchorage that solid drumming provides being nullified by the off-kilter beats. As for the percussion samples used; well, the industrial-sounding bass drum is quite cool. The snare, however, is one of the most ill-thought out and grating sounds ever recorded - it's dry, clicky, too loud and completely unsuited to the all-pervasive blasting sections.
5 albums into their career and with a reasonably high profile to boot, it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect The Berzerker to have their shtick nailed by now, but few of the tracks actually work well. 'The Deception', 'Your Final Seconds' and 'Spare Parts' are all worth a listen, examples of when it all comes together to produce the unique brutality the band is striving for, but they're exceptions to the rule. If the death/grind aspects of this record had been top notch then many of its shortcomings could have been more easily forgiven, but they're mostly unremarkable, whizzing by without imprinting themselves on the listeners brain. 6 remixed tracks are also included herein (four for 'Spare Parts' and two of 'Caught in the Crossfire'). As you'd expect, they're dancier versions of the originals, yet they manage to be a far more interesting prospect than the main body of the album, and believe me that's saying something coming from a staunch techno-phobe such as myself. Ted Maul pulled off an excellent mish-mash of 'junglist' beats and death metal on their debut, mainly because they didn't forget to ensure that the parts attracting ther main demographic (i.e. the metal) were top-drawer. t's just a shame The Berzerker didn't do likewise.
Offical The Berzerker MySpace
Official Berzerker Industries Website
