Long Island Slam-Deathsters INTERNAL BLEEDING possess quite a legacy if anyone would care to look.  Largely credited as one of the forerunners within the ultimately limited sub-genre of Slam Death Metal, the band continued to stick with the tradition and carry on much in the same vain as other slam bands DYING FETUS and DEVOURMENT. Alas, 1997’s “The Extinction of Benevolence” is very much disinterested in breaking new ground.

To sum up Slam Death, I’d say that it’s a place where the magic of breakdowns happen all the time (if breakdowns are your thing) and there’s no such thing as technicality. Slam Death riffs are slow and generic, paying absolute attention to the groove/rhythm of the song than any sort of melody. Incidentally, that’s exactly how I would describe “The Extinction of Benevolence.” If you’ve heard DYING FETUS, you know exactly what I’m referring to. But is this effort superior to other artists of the period? No, is the simple answer. The production quality is utterly terrible, which will either turn you away or make not a difference, and subsequently the entire album lacks what I think embodies Slam Death best…power.

I’m not a massive fan of breakdowns, but when used partially they can certainly rescue an otherwise bland song from the depths of shiteness. When you are forced to craft entire songs with breakdowns as the main foundation, these breakdowns have to be powerful, they have to push you to the floor and rape your family while you watch in unparalleled terror. INTERNAL BLEEDING simply don’t have this quality for me, so claiming that there are no superior sounding bands within the genre would be false. Like the recent Deathcore sub-genre, you either like it or you don’t. And if you’ve never given it a try, you’d be better off looking somewhere else.

(Online August 13, 2011)