From Finland comes the purveyors of insane, technical grind/death metal, Blastanus. Their debut album Odd is a relentless, 16 track dive into extreme brutality that will surely 'sodomize everyone by blast' as the band likes to put it. Expect to be bluedgeoned from start to finish here, as this four piece know how to deliver punishing grind that features bone crunching riffs, jackhammer blast beats, technical arrangements, and incomprehensible growls, screams, and grunts. For the most part this is unrelenting in its brutality, but there are some moments of clarity, like the Opeth influenced proggy interlude on "Scam", the opening doom dirges of "In Distress", the groove laden two-part "Punk Bitch", the NWOBHM influenced "Overgrow The Government", and the tender acoustic intro to the otherwise very black metal sounding "Incarnation".
For an independant release, Odd is pretty massive sounding, with some of the crunchiest guitar riffs I've heard in a while. Antti Oksanen is a very capable player, whether he's laying down supreme riffage or flying about the fretboard and dazzling with some blinding leads. Drummer Henri Fredriksson is master of the 'blast' and rampages throughout this 35 minute CD with reckless abandon. Lead vocalist Kari Vakpiarta is going to be the controversial part of this album for most-you're either going to love his maniacal ramblings or you'll hate them, it's that simple. All in all, there's a lot of talent here, but I would have liked to have seen some longer songs where the band could really dive into a heavy groove, stick with it, and build on it. Too many of these 'song' just feel unfinished and come across like an excuse to pound the listener into submission and impress with complex virtuosity without any real structure. Despite all that, this seems like a band to watch, and you never know, the next Dillinger Escape Plan, Between the Buried and Me, Origin, or Cephalic Carnage could just be coming from Finland.
Track Listing
1.Greed
2.Lies That Bind
3.Nihility Neighbourhood
4.Rathunting
5.Scam
6.Drumstick Made Eyehole
7.In Distress
8.Burn, Bitch
9.Odd Times
10.Hese
11.Punk Bitch Part One
12.Punk Bitch Part Two
13.Overgrow The Government
14.Calyptron
15.Incarnation
16.King Of Encrustations
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