Genuine question here: how many folks listen to Death Metal strictly because of the vocals? Or let me rephrase, the growls and shrieks are the most important aspect to the listener? And no, this is not coming from the point of view of one of those “I like Heavy Metal, but not the screaming stuff” fans.
I believe Jamey Jasta has correctly diagnosed those folks as having “bitch ears.” I ask because on Hyperdontia’s Harvest of Malevolence (Dark Descent Records) we have yet another case of a death metal album’s mix leaning towards the vocalist in slight detriment towards the other players. Exhibit A being a number like “Salvation in Death” in which drummer Paweł Tunkiewicz’s snare punches through, but his double kicks and blast beats are just left at the bottom of a muddy sludge. However, Mathias Friborg’s barks never waver in their monochrome ferocity.
And again, this is not an effort to pick on death metal vocalists. The genre has had luminaries like Angela Gossow, Jeff Walker, Trevor Strnad, Glen Benton, John Tardy, Phil Bozeman, and Tomas Lindberg to name a few that have distinctive and iconic roars. Unfortunately, Friborg isn’t quite there yet so the spotlight should’ve been shared elsewhere.
And when the lanes are opened up like on “Pestering Lamentations”, Tunkiewicz gets to showcase a bit more, lead guitars get more attention and add new textures while Malik Çamlıca’s rubbery bass thunders away. The same can be said about the second half of “Pervasive Rot” which alternates between the fading blasts with a more Thrash Metal tempo that really suits the song much better.
This is a perfectly acceptable death metal release from Hyperdontia, but if the vocals are going to be so prevalent give me a reason as to why as opposed to the usual death lyrical fodder. You don’t need to go with a full-fledged concept like Gorguts, but a slight change from the usual boilerplate.
The tools are all here if Hyperdontia is willing to reach outside of their comfort zone.
Buy the album here:
https://hyperdontiaofficial.bandcamp.com/album/harvest-of-malevolence
7 / 10
HANS LOPEZ