upon Infliction - To Escape Is To Suffer
Crash Music - 8-04026-1171-2 - 2006
By Philip Whitehouse
Considering that the increasing scarcity of originality within the death metal scene is one of the main reasons that reviewers such as myself are becoming increasingly more jaded with the style, it's always a pleasant surprise to come across an album that does precisely nothing new, but still manages to provide an entertaining listening experience. It helps, in the case of Upon Infliction's debut, that Floridian death metal a la Malevolent Creation and Monstrosity is a style that absolutely fucking crushes when done well, regardless of whether you've heard it all before or not.
Witness the bulldozer groove to the intro of 'Abducted', for instance, its weighty riffage bolstered by a thick-as-molasses guitar tone and a suitably punishing drum sound, the track unfolding into a largely mid-tempo slab of lead-heavy malevolence punctuated by blistering leads and more breakneck blast sections. Take also the rumbling ball of fury that is 'American Way', all hurricane-force tremolo-picked semi-technical riffage and skin-shredding blastbeats, topped off with even more killer leadwork. Nothing that I've described so far in this paragraph hasn't occured elsewhere, but Upon Infliction do it all with such apparent ease and flair that the question of redundancy is rendered irrelevant.
Drummer and band founder Gus Rios co-wrote the last four Malevolent Creation albums with Phil Fasciana, and has toured both with that act and the equally impressive Divine Empire, so it should come as no surprise that the songwriting on To Escape Is To Suffer is so assured. Every tempo is touched on at some point, the tracks are varied and memorable, and the group even manage to make a cover of Death's 'Mutilation' sound like one of their own compositions. Guitarist Seth Ringler's contributions are impressive without being wankily technical, Hector Rios' bass adds a nice low-end punch to the sound, and Brian Mygrant's mid-range growls and occasional Corpsegrinder-esque screams serve their purpose well. It's well-produced, flawlessly executed, and very enjoyable. Definitely worth a punt.
6.5/10
UMs Review Rating Scale
Official Crash Music Website
Crash Music - 8-04026-1171-2 - 2006
By Philip Whitehouse
Considering that the increasing scarcity of originality within the death metal scene is one of the main reasons that reviewers such as myself are becoming increasingly more jaded with the style, it's always a pleasant surprise to come across an album that does precisely nothing new, but still manages to provide an entertaining listening experience. It helps, in the case of Upon Infliction's debut, that Floridian death metal a la Malevolent Creation and Monstrosity is a style that absolutely fucking crushes when done well, regardless of whether you've heard it all before or not.
Witness the bulldozer groove to the intro of 'Abducted', for instance, its weighty riffage bolstered by a thick-as-molasses guitar tone and a suitably punishing drum sound, the track unfolding into a largely mid-tempo slab of lead-heavy malevolence punctuated by blistering leads and more breakneck blast sections. Take also the rumbling ball of fury that is 'American Way', all hurricane-force tremolo-picked semi-technical riffage and skin-shredding blastbeats, topped off with even more killer leadwork. Nothing that I've described so far in this paragraph hasn't occured elsewhere, but Upon Infliction do it all with such apparent ease and flair that the question of redundancy is rendered irrelevant.
Drummer and band founder Gus Rios co-wrote the last four Malevolent Creation albums with Phil Fasciana, and has toured both with that act and the equally impressive Divine Empire, so it should come as no surprise that the songwriting on To Escape Is To Suffer is so assured. Every tempo is touched on at some point, the tracks are varied and memorable, and the group even manage to make a cover of Death's 'Mutilation' sound like one of their own compositions. Guitarist Seth Ringler's contributions are impressive without being wankily technical, Hector Rios' bass adds a nice low-end punch to the sound, and Brian Mygrant's mid-range growls and occasional Corpsegrinder-esque screams serve their purpose well. It's well-produced, flawlessly executed, and very enjoyable. Definitely worth a punt.
6.5/10
UMs Review Rating Scale
Official Crash Music Website
