SABBATORY

Canadian death metallers SABBATORY make a nearly convincing statement with their debut album, "Endless Asphyxiating Gloom". Rather than focus on who they sound like, it's sufficient enough to say the band's raw capture and blazing dedication to speed and punk undertones will sit well with many death hounds.

The opening number "Being, Thy Eternal Perplexor" vaults forth with speed and plenty of signature changes, revealing some hardcore and punk affinities as well as dropped-in grisly death marches, much as "The End of a Pessimistic Voyage" does in similar fashion later on this album.

"Hypnotic Regression" maintains the flurrying velocity, only with a stripped-down moshing tone to it. The song is bound for a skid into a brief doom segment positioned in the right place for SABBATORY to rebuild the track into a grinding horror show for the final third. "Corrosive Decay" then wields a stomping intro setting up for more blitzing mayhem. The instrumental section here volleys in tempo, but hitting full stride, a killer guitar solo emits as prelude to a punishing finish.

There's a metallic, echoing feedback frequently haunting the background of the album, which may be deliberate or it may be something amiss in the audio. It tends to fall on the heels of ride cymbal clatter, but either way, it lends SABBATORY a creepy if slacker cadence. Had it only been a random offense, it could be easily overlooked, but the frequent shrill rebounds negate what's positive about this band, just a bit.

"Infantasy" gets messy the faster it tries to go, but everything else moves along according to plan minus more of the aforementioned clanging ricochets. The ripping title track at least compensates as one of the fiercest offerings SABBATORY has to offer.

Essentially, this band is in need of a production clean-up. "Endless Asphyxiating Gloom" is gruesome and fast and it's a strenuous exhibition that SABBATORY knows how to properly write a death metal jam. The guitar solos are bloody sharp and punctuated. The many transitions SABBATORY utilize are planted and executed well. All being said, their dirty resonance is an attribute, but unfortunately, it's also a hindrance.