Eastern
metal has a strong background regarding
extreme metal bands and Metal Mind
Productions is trying to reinforce
this by issuing a series of death/black
metal releases. One of these is the
second album of Polish Spinal Cord,
an album of technical death metal,
which is more or less re-released.
The twelve tracks that are included
in "Stigmata of Life" is
certain that will satisfy fans eager
for death metal with a great dose
of skills and competencies. Of course
I am not claiming that we are dealing
with a new Cynic or Death, but definitely
these guys have the talent to cope
with such challenges and to suggest
something more complex than plain
death metal. Moreover they provide
evidence of their willingness to
move their music further on with
their compound structures that incorporate
various types of death metal expression,
from mid-tempo parts to blastbeats
and from absurd and hellish melodies
to grindcore outbursts. The album
gets more complex gradually and the
later tracks present more interesting
moments, since the two guitarists
give more attention to their lead
parts. I would argue on the use of
vocals, which have wider range than
is needed and sometimes spoils the
cohesion of the atmosphere. More
attention would be needed also in
the area of production which needed
a portion of additional power in
order to enhance the sound’s
brutality. Despite featuring Dino
of Vader comparisons with the Polish
death metal patriarchs will discourage
fans of Spinal Cord in this area.
If you leave apart these minor disadvantages, "Stigmata
of Life" is in general an interesting
proposal for fans of technical death
metal. |
