TRIGGER THE BLOODSHED
The Great Depression
Metal BladeTrack listing:
01.The Great Depression
02. Warbound
03. Sanctuary Of The Wretched
04. The Scourging Impurity
05. The Dead World
06. I
07. Contempary Perception Narcotics
08. Dessicate Earth
09. The Infliction Of Tophet
10. Disfigured Anonymity
11. Terminus
The deal is that "The Great Depression" is demonstrative of the solid modern death metal foundation built by the UK's TRIGGER THE BLOODSHED. Work remains to be done to turn this house into a home, not the least of which is the securing of a production that doesn't restrain the arrangements. I'm sure it doesn't help that I'm following a review of an album ("Of Winter Born") by a stalwart UKDM act in IGNOMINIOUS INCARCERATION with a disc in "The Great Depression" that scores points for unmitigated ferocity and an anti-deathcore stance, but falls just shy of joining the new wave elite.
All other things being equal, "The Great Depression" is a firestorm of death riffing and blast beaten mayhem. It is about a 9 on the brutality scale and the quintet keeps the shrapnel flying from start to finish, aside from a strange interlude called "I" and the occasional moment of dark mid-tempo crunch (which actually bolsters the album's overall impact). The songwriting is not as accomplished as that heard on "Of Winter Born" — melody is clearly an afterthought on "The Great Depression" — and a few more leads would have helped immensely (even the lead part on "The Infliction of Tophet" makes a big difference). In other words, in terms of high-volume impact when you need a good beating, "The Great Depression" does the trick. It just needs some tweaking.
The problem is the production. It is somewhat flat, overpowered by the drums, and robbed of its sharpness. Jonny Burgan's growls could stand to be fuller anyway, but when thrown into a muddy mix his pipes don't impact like they should. The guitars suffer the most though and that is the one thing that would have brought out the true power of these arrangements. A general dullness douses what would otherwise be a raging inferno. I still like what TRIGGER THE BLOODSHED has to offer here and am unwilling to simply drop "The Great Depression" into the great landfill of mediocrity. Take the vehicle back into the shop for a tune-up and I'm betting it will run a hell of a lot better.