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Maybe it’s because I’ve been a little turned off from the whole Death Metal scene for a while now due to the slurry of very average bands cluttering up distros, but In BLACK THE SKY I find myself imbued with a sense of hope for the future. Mixing mid-paced Death Metal and Deathcore together in this debut, BLACK THE SKY are treading the same waters as “Stop At Nothing” era DYING FETUS, albeit a mite slower and less technical.
Fronted by one Dustin Sumner, it’s the sixteen, yes sixteen, year olds vocal delivery that really sets “Simplistic Mechanics Of Deformable Bodies” apart from the ever growing pack. Combining malevolent gutturals with Metalcore styled gravely screams, they help the dynamically lacking music drive along without becoming mundane, a bugbear I find particularly prevalent from two-release-record-labels swallowing the genre. Whilst Sumner’s gutturals could be a little more powerful his vocal tracks and lines are a sure sign of things to come if BLACK THE SKY hold together.
Hopefully, if they do reach the sophomore barrier that seems to claim many youthful Death Metal bands, the music will have progressed a little too. Whilst the riffing is competent, meaty and moshpit acceptable, especially in the buzz saw breakdowns, it is never truly challenging and the same can be said for the music in general which seems to be scared to try something outside of crushing mid paced Deathcore. It is perhaps thankful that the album only runs to twenty nine minutes as it would probably grow tedious much after that.
Continuing in a vein of nitpicking negatives the brutality of this record is also hurt by an idiosyncratic production and mix of the rhythm section. The drums, handled by former LIVIDITY sticksman James Whitehurst, fit the music without ever going into the realms of technical, but the snare has a poppy finish to it that sounds a little timid compared to the ride bell that sits high in the mix juxtaposed to the kicks that are horribly low for the ears of someone who likes to here the double bass work which, if listened to carefully, are utilized well in the breakdowns. Thankfully the bass lines run thick and enjoyably to compensate, if only to a degree.
That aside “Simplistic Mechanics Of Deformable Bodies” is a thoroughly enjoyable and honest album that sets an excellent benchmark for a first record. Whilst none of the tracks truly standalone, perhaps due to some songwriting immaturity where the songs run out of steam before they close out, it is an debut full of some nice mid-paced highlights such as the melodious guitar driven breakdown fifty second into “Flowers Of Flesh And Blood” and the brutal Deathcore breakdown at the three minute mark of “It Ain’t Cheatin’ If She Ain’t Breathin’” which runs through to the climax almost seventy five seconds later.
(Online June 2, 2007)
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