United Kingdom's gore metallers Gorerotted seem to be in decline ever since they lost Mr Gore, their second vocalist. His duties are now being handled by The Wilson who is credited as the man responsible for swilling and swearing in the booklet. Unfortunately, after listening to A New Dawn for the Dead, it is evident that the departure of Mr Gore hasn't just resulted in a simple lineup change, but it has also drastically affected the originality and songwriting of the band. Anything you may have heard and liked on their earlier releases is either gone or replaced with more mundane elements. Obviously, the title of the new album, besides making a reference to classic horror films, also suggests that this is "a new dawn" for the band themselves. If that's the case, the band may consider re-thinking their decison.
This album is considerably simpler in structure. The songs are more predictable as they are pretty straightforward, both in terms of instrumentation and writing-wise. The layered, complex songs have been scratched and replaced by more jumbled compositions which often suggest a mandatory trade-off between the two vocalists, Ben Goreskin and The Wilson (why some band members refuse to use their own names and go for cheesy pseudonyms is also beyond me - if they think it makes them seem cool, it certainly doesn't). Goreskin provides the low grunts and deep growls while Wilson is more on the snarling, black metal type of vocalists spewing words of venom. This reminds me a bit of the amazing Portuguese band The Firstborn, except that The Firstborn has one singer who can handle both the growls and shrieks and their songs are ultra-complex pieces littered with Nile-like exotic scales and mind-bending technicality. That said, Gorerotted does try to incorporate some more Middle Eastern motifs in their craft, but because of the paper-thin drum sound, little of what was intended is achieved. The drum tone of Junko has got to be the weakest and most lifeless drum tone I've heard on any death/grind album. It is flat and has no dynamics, despite the fact that Junko actually is a good drummer. Moreover, his blastbeats are almost inaudible, buried amidst chunks of recycled guitar riffs that are sometimes overtly repeated within the same songs. Thoughts of Carcass arise while listening to this album which clocks in at over half an hour and is comprised of 2-minute tracks. One exception being "Selection and Dissection of Parts for Resurrection", the last song, as it has a running time of 9 minutes, but then the last three minutes of it are pure silence. This kind of attitude has been so done so much that it's got to the point of overkill. What's worse is bands who have no concept of atmosphere and mood in their music opt for this "cop-out", thinking if they also do it, some people may actually fall for it. Sorry, it just makes the music more boring and pointless.
This is not to say I don't "get" technical death metal or grind. As a matter of fact, I'm a die-hard fan of the genre, but it would simply be a shame to name Gorerotted's new one along with the godly works of bands like Nile, Napalm Death, Cryptopsy, Necrophagist, Cephalic Carnage, and even the already mentioned Carcass. One last word about the layout of the album. It is extremely cheesy, showing leather-wearing women being tortured by the band members, or vice versa. Gorerotted need to get their acts together and start writing songs that go somewhere. Otherwise they'll just disappear into nothingness.
Track Listing
- And Everything Went Black
- Pain As A Prelude to Death
- Nervous Gibbering Wreck
- Adding Insult to Injury
- Fable of Filth
- Dead Drunk
- A Very Grave Business
- Horroday in Haiti
- Selection and Dissection of Parts for Resurrection
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