Advent of Bedlam - Flesh Over God (2012)

Flesh Over God is the sophomore of Costa Rica's Advent of Bedlam, who had impressed me a few short years ago with Behold the Chaos, a take no prisoners, aggressive approach to melodic death metal that brought variation and skill to an ailing sub-genre and helped prove that it still had some legs to it. Thus, I was pretty surprised to find that the group's core sound had mutated a bit with more semi-technical 90s death metal influences; but not at all disappointed, since Flesh Over God still exudes most of the same strong songwriting embellishments and musicianship of its predecessor. Most importantly, Advent of Bedlam just know how to write riffs that come across exciting and fresh (even when they're technically not), an ability that is more of a 'dying art' than you might think...

Right from the start, Flesh Over God evokes a more industrious and menacing side to the band's sound, complete with churning, palm mutes and full chords that erupt into an eerie tremolo riff over a blast. Loads of acrobatically chugging grooves are strewn about this landscape, with a lot of the brighter harmonies of their past eschewed in favor of creepier, darker note progressions. The guitar playing through the album often felt like a mixture of Pestilence's Testimony of the Ancients and New Yorkers' Immolation's later 90s work, swerving and swelling through periods of harsher dissonance and almost mechanical, unfeeling precision.They can build emotional, tonal melodies that have a post-hardcore influence with lots of glimmering octave chords ("Purification Through Pain"), but they also won't leave you hanging for long before they break back into some grueling, ominous old school death metal bridge that binds everything together. There is a drier edge to the guitar tone, and the drums are often a bit thin and tinny sounding, but overall I did feel like this helped lend the recording some clarity and credibility.

Vocally, they implement a conglomeration of blood curling rasps and harsher grunts, sort of a mix of Tomas Lindberg, Ross Dolan and David Vincent, sometimes splayed out individually in the verses, and while neither style might seem all that unique or standout on its own, they're both quite effective alongside the music, in particular where they bark out in grisly unison. The bass lines add a nice, deep, curving anchor for the guitar tone, and the drummer beats the living oblivion out of his kit, even if I wasn't blown over by their mix. I was happy to hear the familiar and excellent guest vocals of Tim Aymar (Pharaoh) in "Indoctrinate Wrath", which functioned so well in this harsher environment than his native band, that I wanted to hear more. The cover art to this thing is also pretty fucking crazy, with that surreal, insect-like avatar crushing feasting on its supplicants at a wasteland temple. The lyrics are not the most unique or poetic out there, but they're full of passion and anger that matches up well with the riffing hysterics.

I can't claim to have enjoyed Flesh Over God any more or less than the first album, but that's far from a bad thing. It's potent, it's different, and it shucks all the current trends of death metal without disengaging similar influences. Not a total facelift to their earlier sound, but a compelling, partial transformation. This band is once again worth paying attention to, and deserves a broader audience.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://www.adventofbedlam.com/

Insepulto - Morbid Spawn of Resurrection (2012)

Insepulto is only the second Costa Rican act I've covered in years of writing reviews, but don't mistake the novelty of their surroundings as any sign that they don't possess the chops and ability to impress anyone; the trio has about 20 years experience in various other groups, and they bring it all to bear on what must be one of the most well-rounded, crushing hybrids of old school death and thrash metal that I've heard in many a month. Morbid Spawn of Resurrection might only be their debut, but it honestly sounds like the output of some seasoned voices in the field, if they were to reach back into the dawn of the 90s and then write an album fully centered on the sounds so potent and prominent back then.

Everything from slower death metal like Bolt Thrower, Cianide, Benediction, Cancer and Autopsy to the roots of primal death/thrash like Sepultura, Assorted Heap and Protector is crossed over into a matrix of brute, pummeling riffs, while the atmosphere and occult/sacrilegious themes often reek of Incantation. The rhythm guitar tones are dense and rich, and even though the individual, slower patterns do often hinge on the too-familiar, the songs are written in such a taut, 3-minute average format that they all pace themselves out rather well. I'd also note that the leads are incredibly well-defined; not exactly complex, but they scream out over each bridge rhythm efficiently and really pack in that extra texture of eeriness that will sometimes be lacking from one of the lower end riff passages. The songwriting splits its time pretty evenly between vile tremolo picked note progressions and mid-paced, swerving brutality. Drums are supremely polished, with great kick work and grooves that sit like blood-soaked bedrock beneath the incessant riffing, and some nice fills into the transitions. Bass is also very fulfilling, ominous and low even if it doesn't divert from the guitar.

Vocally, you've got a blend of the deeper gutturals circa Karl Willetts, Dave Ingram or Craig Pillard, with some blacker rasps that have the same natural level of atmosphere and sustain. It's nothing you've not heard before, but consistent and lovingly delivered with a primal brutality that gives the album much in the way of a claustrophobic, bruising atmosphere. There are a few flights of more frenetic, clinical notes that remind me of a Pestilence or Sinister, but otherwise it's all pretty basic. The Costa Ricans clearly have roots in the 90s, when so much of this music felt fresh and threatening, before bands began to explore a more technical sphere of expansiveness, but nonetheless Morbid Spawn of Resurrection feels completely timeless, as if you woke up one morning, glanced over at your clock to find that it was 1993 again. And yet, this is no clone band, you can't quite trace their sound back to a single band, but more of an amalgamation of all of those English, US and South American pioneers of the period. This isn't your typical cavern-core dowsed in tons of reverb and ominous drudgery, or a Swedish derivative. Complete with a great logo and hellish cover, it's a worthy paean of past punishments time warped into the present.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Insepulto/314871011905018

Advent of Bedlam - Behold the Chaos (2010)

Many have written off the melodic death metal sub-genre for ages, and often for good reason, as there are too few bands coming out that keep themselves within proximity to the style's originators in the 90s, who remembered that crucial 'death' element. Yes, in today's terms, 'melodic death' too commonly means metalcore with uplifting guitar frenzies lifted from In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, or At the Gates. Thankfully, there is some resistance tugging at the line, and Costa Rica's Advent of Bedlam are one such rebel, a band that draws far more largely from a pure death metal influence than the tedious stream of ineffectual noodling and cheap melodies that have stagnated the form at large.

No, you will not find shallow, shitty grooves, pre-pubescent whining or clean radio chorus sequences here on the debut Behold the Chaos (they released two albums under their previous name December's Cold Winter). Instead, we are treated to a rather interesting crossing point between the flighty, energetic death metal of a Hate Eternal, Deicide or Morbid Angel, and the Swedish originators At the Gates. Vocals are shifted between two climactic poles, a gruff death grunt and a more Tomas Lindberg-ian strain of snarling infusion, both crude but effective against the bludgeoning, riff-laden backdrop. Yes, these Costa Ricans write riffs, most of which are at the least effective, if not outright catchy and blazing, and while they're not entirely unique (who the hell is these days), I would take what they've written here any day over the horrid taint of US hacks like Killswitch Engage, Black Dahlia Murder, and All That Remains that have taken a once great style and impregnated it into the shallow emptiness of commercial metalcore.

There are a number of commendable tunes here, like "Awaiting the Chaos", which leads in with a strong, flowing rhythm complete with jazzy, unnerving chords that herald a volatile Swedish matrix of biting, dueling rhythm guitars that dance across Alex Ovares's incessant battery. They pack in quite a few riffs, and even if they're not all memorable, they're proof positive that this band is attempting to actually evolve and squeeze something more out of a stagnant sub-genre. Also of note are the leads, cautiously written to evoke and inspire emotions from the listener, another practice all too rare of late. "Chronicles of a Bedlamite" and "Harp of Ruin" are likewise impressive displays: the former a wall of relentless crushing melodic force rationed out into choppy, aggressive tempos, the latter an acrobatic death/thrashing that surges across some intense double bass work and the evolving mechanism of desperate melodies.

The remainder of the record fares nearly as well, with strong segments incorporated into the bludgeoning "Dogmatic Apprehensions", graceful calamity of "Enlightenment of the Forsaken", exquisitely titled "Alabaster Corpse Consequences" and charging, almost black metal balance in "Vessels of Sin". I did not enjoy every track equally, and felt that a few slacked behind ever so slightly (like "The Stench of Your Faith"), but in all the album is quite consistent in the writing department. From a production standpoint, the album does often feel stiff and boxy, but this is easily ignored when the music is this good, and you can hear all the instruments quite clearly, including the bass and the dual vocal styles. We need more bands like Advent of Bedlam, thirsty and explosive and easily proving that this chosen style is fully capable of delivering some thrills, with the right team behind it to give a little 'push'.

Verdict: Win [8/10] (arranged for commotion, destruction)

http://www.adventofbedlam.com/