Montreal's Beneath the Massacre is a band that I used to get REALLY excited about. I mean, over the course of two full-length CDs and an EP, these guys created some truly brutal and technical death metal that signaled the arrival of a real force on the extreme metal scene. Here on their latest Incongruous the formula hasn't changed one iota, and while you would think that wouldn't necessarily be a band thing, after a few spins through this new CD you can't help feel like you've heard this all before.
That's not to say that there aren't plenty of crushing breakdowns and blazing passages of technical virtuosity on display here, cause there are. It's just that the BtM formula of 2-3 minute songs filled with evil bellows, rampaging drum blasts, pummeling riffs, and noodling solos hasn't changed at all in the last 5 years, and every song here on Incongruous sounds almost identical. It's not until track number five "It" that we get any sort of variety from the norm (this is easily the best tune on the CD), and though each cut is crushingly heavy & brutal, with plenty of jaw-dropping fretwork, there's almost nothing to distinguish one track from the next.
In a time where bands like Spawn of Possession, Obscura, Origin, and Cannibal Corpse are creating music that is brutal & technical but also memorable, Beneath the Massacre seem to have gotten lost in their own bubble of 'sameness' that they really need to get out of soon if they want to compete on that level. This CD is decent and impressive on certain levels, but overall if I had to guess if I'd be wanting to spin this a month from now I'd probably find something better instead and leave this tucked away on the shelf.
Track Listing
01. Symptoms
02. Hunted
03. Left Hand
04. Hopes
05. It
06. Light
07. Incongruous
08. Pedestal
09. Grief
10. Damages
11. Unheard
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