| Written by Alex Stojanovic TRACK LISTING Vicious Fiction Cryptosphere Parasitic Spawn Plague Of Cognizance The Waiting Room ANOMALISM IS: Mike Palmer - Lead vocals & rhythm guitars Josh Koob - Lead guitars & backing vocals James Gsols - Bass & backing vocals Nigel Mason - Drums Release Date: January 4, 2019 Label: Unsigned Website: www.facebook.com/AnomalismWpg |  |
It's a new year, and that means a whole bunch of new music is coming, and it's looking like it's going to be another great year for new music. We're only a month into 2019, and it's already starting out strong. One of the releases that has just been released is the debut EP from Winnipeg death metal titans Anomalism, titled Parasitic Spawn. Only formed in 2018, the band had the pleasure of opening for Black Dahlia Murder last year. If you're in a band that has only been around for a few months, and you get the opportunity to open for an established band, you've got something special. The band's sound is comprised of technical and rampaging riffs with vicious, throat-ripping vocals, frenetic bass lines and some intense drum work, all guaranteed to get your adrenaline going and head either banging or windmilling.
Mike Palmer's vocals caress the styles of Glen Benton of Deicide and Frank Mullen of Suffocation for the most part, but you can also hear the modern influences in the vocals, like Jonny Davy of Job For A Cowboy. In this day and age, it's hard to find a vocalist in a death metal band that has a distinctive vocal that you can identify right away, like George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher of Cannibal Corpse and John Tardy of Obituary. Mike has yet to find his own identity as a vocalist, but it's understandable because the band is still in the early stages of its life. Lead guitarist Josh Koob also manages to incorporate solos that have the perfect blend of shred and soul, and you can hear this on tracks like "Vicious Fiction" and "Plague Of Cognizance" in particular.
What you hear on Parasitic Spawn may be Anomalism's comfort zone for the time being, since this is the band's first salvo of music, but they were smart to make it an EP, because if it was a full-length with eleven, twelve or thirteen songs, the listening experience would've been a little different for me. Now, I'm not saying that they shouldn't make a full-length album. I'm not saying that at all, but if you're writing an album where each song features 80-90% fast riffs, blast beats, fast double-bass and technicality, things would get stale by the halfway point of the album, or even before. If things are pulled back with a song or two that was more groove-oriented, slower and maybe more eerie-sounding, to create some dynamics without taking any of the brutality away, it really helps to keep the album from becoming stale by a certain point.
As I've mentioned before, I love my death metal, but when dynamics are present, I love it even more than I already do. Anomalism have an impeccable amount of talent as musicians, given from what I heard on Parasitic Spawn, but all I'm saying is if they keep what I just said in mind about dynamics, their full-length album has potential to be even better than it already would be. Parasitic Spawn may only have five songs, but it's a real treat for fans who enjoy their music fast, technical, heavy and loud. We're looking forward to hearing what they have coming next.
Highs: Adrenaline-inducing riffing, relentless drums and brutal vocals.
Lows: A little hard to distinguish a couple of tracks.
Final Rating: 8/10
Mike Palmer's vocals caress the styles of Glen Benton of Deicide and Frank Mullen of Suffocation for the most part, but you can also hear the modern influences in the vocals, like Jonny Davy of Job For A Cowboy. In this day and age, it's hard to find a vocalist in a death metal band that has a distinctive vocal that you can identify right away, like George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher of Cannibal Corpse and John Tardy of Obituary. Mike has yet to find his own identity as a vocalist, but it's understandable because the band is still in the early stages of its life. Lead guitarist Josh Koob also manages to incorporate solos that have the perfect blend of shred and soul, and you can hear this on tracks like "Vicious Fiction" and "Plague Of Cognizance" in particular.
What you hear on Parasitic Spawn may be Anomalism's comfort zone for the time being, since this is the band's first salvo of music, but they were smart to make it an EP, because if it was a full-length with eleven, twelve or thirteen songs, the listening experience would've been a little different for me. Now, I'm not saying that they shouldn't make a full-length album. I'm not saying that at all, but if you're writing an album where each song features 80-90% fast riffs, blast beats, fast double-bass and technicality, things would get stale by the halfway point of the album, or even before. If things are pulled back with a song or two that was more groove-oriented, slower and maybe more eerie-sounding, to create some dynamics without taking any of the brutality away, it really helps to keep the album from becoming stale by a certain point.
As I've mentioned before, I love my death metal, but when dynamics are present, I love it even more than I already do. Anomalism have an impeccable amount of talent as musicians, given from what I heard on Parasitic Spawn, but all I'm saying is if they keep what I just said in mind about dynamics, their full-length album has potential to be even better than it already would be. Parasitic Spawn may only have five songs, but it's a real treat for fans who enjoy their music fast, technical, heavy and loud. We're looking forward to hearing what they have coming next.
Highs: Adrenaline-inducing riffing, relentless drums and brutal vocals.
Lows: A little hard to distinguish a couple of tracks.
Final Rating: 8/10
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