Cardiac Arrest - Cadaverous Presence (2008)

Cardiac Arrest is another of those hard working Midwestern acts which never seems to quite catch a break or generate a ton of buzz despite being capable at its craft. While they've never really put out anything that blew me away, records like Haven for the Insane and Vortex of Violence have been serviceable, competent and entertaining old school death metal platters that stand out to me mostly because they pursue a style that is simply not heard too often in the realm of brutastic boor-wankers, Dismember addicts, cavern core drillers and Floridian acolytes. Instead, they've got a sound strikingly reminiscent of English death and grind circa early Carcass and Bolt Thrower, perhaps with a little Repulsion in there and a whole lot of horror influence rather than songs about medical processes or Warhammer.

When I say 'reminiscent', I don't mean that they completely ape those bands' tones, but rather feel like a parallel, North American development to them, with some similarities in riff construction, chord choices, and pacing. For example, the instrumental intro, "The Inevitable" sounds a hell of a lot like something you'd hear Karl Willetts growling over, a slow and churning piece with groovier drums that almost can't support the fuzzed out rhythm guitar tone. The title track definitely has a couple of roiling riffs, as in the bridge breakdown, which would have fit right in on Symphonies of Sickness, though they also break out into a lot less distinct grinding and blasting, faster patterns that are in the Morbid Angel camp, and then some leads whipping their tendrils about that feel a bit aimless but not out of place. You can hear traces of a few other influences in here, like old Pestilence or maybe even the first Entombed record, but that constant grinding to grooving ratio evokes a whole lot of the Earache camp circa the late 80s or early 90s, which is surely a nostalgia trigger.

As for production standards, this is naturally a little weaker than the records to come after it, with the drums a little weak in the mix to support that excessively fuzzy guitar tone. Combined with the distortion levels on the bass, this is where part of the Repulsion comparison comes in, and you could make an argument that Cadaverous Presence is a more dynamic alternative to Horrified, those dynamics taking the form of the riffs and progressions which sound like the other bands I've brought up. This is ugly, hostile and ultimately punishing, with just barely enough polish to place it beyond the live or rehearsal category of recording. But, at the same time, that actually lends it some character and forces the listener into a more terrifying, grotesque dimension in which they've got to earn their appreciation a little more. The range of riffs, which aren't terribly catchy on an individual basis, is another strong point, since it's interesting and varied enough to prevent this from being some slog saved only by its disgusting tones.

Alas, that's not to say I think this is an album as good as those to follow it. The gutturals are rather monotonous and sound more like your average brutal death frontman, both in tone and the patterns of syllables being belched out. Half the riffs are exciting, the others are entirely forgettable, while the balance of the guitars and drums doesn't exactly allow them to properly complement one another. Apart from the sheer visceral nature of the music, the titles and artwork, there is very little here that rises above the horror level of your average slasher. That said, its truly fuzzy and abusive nature will certainly appeal to some that miss when death and grind bands reveled in raw production, and there are least the inklings and intentions of cool songwriting ideas buried across its twisted, fleshy canvas.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/CardiacArrestDeathMetal/

Cardiac Arrest - Vortex of Violence (2012)

Cardiac Arrest's fourth full-length Vortex of Violence is another grind soaked slab of old school death metal that wisely decides to stay clear of the current, prevalent trends in the medium and carve its own course into the nostalgia of its potential (and pre-installed) audience. You won't hear any of the gaping, cavernous death/doom chasms so popular, or the knockbacks to Sweden in the early 90s, or even a heavy Floridian influence. I'm sure the quartet is well schooled in all these areas, and yet the sound they settle upon is more one of social and psychological unrest once spewed by the death/grind pioneers like Repulsion, Napalm Death or the faster-paced tunes of British war-masters Bolt Thrower or Benediction.

The grimy guitar tone is heavily responsible, as it sounds like someone has hooked an IV up to your veins and pumped a city sewer system through your body. Or trying to floss your teeth with rusted barbed wire. The riffs cycle through streams of primitive tremolo patterns and bombastic chord sequences redolent of albums like Harmony Corruption, Utopia Banished, Mental Funeral, World Downfall, Realm of Chaos and Horrified. Drums maintain a laid back but aggressive stance in the mix, all raw and natural-like, and the bass feels like sentient, distorted ooze that escaped a tar pit one night and decided to stalk the living for their flesh. Vocalist Adam Scott has a broad, blunt guttural that brings back memories of the old British growlers, though they also hurl forth a more surgical snarl where it can amplify the aural destruction. As for the production, I doubt I'd have it any other way than the dry, brutal honestly implemented here, well suited to letting the vocals and instruments breed their own, morbid puerility.

If I'm being honest, I will admit that the tunes don't possess a great deal of variety. They rarely did with this particular style, but I found myself leaning towards the eerie, simplistic leads, or the more clinical, atmospheric riffs heard in the songs "Conjured Beings" or "Ritual Plague", the latter of which feels like it could have been a lost Deceased song from one of their earlier records (never a bad thing). Generally paced at a middle to faster speeds, you do get a sense of redundancy through the 48 minutes, and perhaps the very length is a component to this: normally, bands of this sort keep their tracks reined in at 2-3 minutes, but Cardiac Arrest pen a few which double that length. Granted, they're not exactly monotonous, but with a set of riffs this familiar that are at best only mild alternations on those of their influences, the music does eventually become a little one-note in its execution. But while these might prove obstacles to some listeners, Vortex of Violence still succeeds in meting out another beating nearly as potent as its predecessor Haven for the Insane, and those with a fetish for the late 80s English death outbreak or US cult legends Autopsy, Cianide and Repulsion will appreciate its humble and heartened belligerence.

Verdict: Win [7/10] 

http://www.cardiacarrest666.com/

Cardiac Arrest - Haven for the Insane (2010)

The Chicago region, and the Midwest by extension, has always been a breeding ground for some of the most violent and viscera soaked death and grind our nation has vomited forth. Urban tension? Land locked boredom...too far placed from the salt spray and fresh lobster dens of our oceans? Whatever the real reasons, we have Illinois to thank for the likes of Deaden, Fleshgrind, Lividity, and countless others. Assuming you hadn't prior to this point, you can add Chicago's Cardiac Arrest to this rogues gallery, formed 13 years ago, but only recently starting to churn consistent meat through the grinder. Haven for the Insane is their third full-length since 2006, and of the three, I'd say it best captures the bands carnal intent.

This is clearly a band with an old school appeal, yet their approach is neither cast in the typical Swedish mold nor the reinvigorated popularity of decrepit, cavernous atmospheric carnage that recalls a band like Incantation. This is more of a pure 90s USDM with a heavy influence from grind bands like Napalm Death or Repulsion, as well as the messier madness of a Necrophagia or an Autopsy. The guitars rave like a bloodied lunatic drowning in raw sewage with bags of concrete being dumped over his head, and Adam Scott's torn throat pummels with the certainty of an apex predator picking the bones of its latest prey. The rhythm section provides an adequate menace, the violent plodding of Holland's bass a depth charge counteracted by the natural and live appeal of Deabenderfer's drumming.

The riffs are not exactly original, and on their own, very few of them stand out as anything more than the weapons in the serial killer's hand, as he drags you into his fateful psychoses. Yet placed into the roiling, archaic blood haze the band conjures through sheer force, they are more than functional. The band mixes up the pace here to wisely avoid the monotony of many similar efforts, so you've got your full on grind blasts ala "Rage on...Fuck Off" or "Haunted Remnants", creepier old school death numbers like "Against Their Will", and slower themed horrors like the intro to "Affliction of the Beast" or the chugging wasteland of "Unearthly Pleasures". Personally I most enjoyed "Extinction Endured", which has a more epic quality to it through the thick racing, heavily distorted bass breaks and then the searing, evil speed death breaks near the climax that provide a happy medium between Scream Bloody Gore and Harmony Corruption.

The mix of the record is lush and raw, and the lyrics all deal with the classic themes of horror, murder and torment without the silliness of sadistic, misogynistic irony that dominates the younger generation of insatiable gore addicts. Cardiac Arrest have nothing to prove here, they simply offer a pure blast of death metal that will most adhere to long standing fans of the genre. Of the 12 tracks, there are probably half a dozen choice cuts and the rest I'd give or take, but from front to end it flows like a septic system of sincere human misery and this band one again reaffirms the Midwest as a Haven for the Insane, no holds barred aggression that flows through the veins of the extreme.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

http://www.cardiacarrest666.com/