INTERNAL BLEEDING - Imperium
October 3, 2014, 10 years ago
(Unique Leader Records)
New York slam death metal OGs Internal Bleeding haven't released an album in ten years, but considering their track record before that, you're probably thinking this is going to be 10 songs of guttural, groove-infused USDM, right? What if I told you there's a three-part mini-slam-opera in there? Some southern metal riffing? But, not to worry; despite some higher-register vocals than expected from new throat Keith DeVito (he's more Tardy than Corpsegrinder) and the above eyebrow-raisers, this is full of all the grinding, slamming, grooving pure USDM that you'd expect. As for the aberrations? Well, they're fun: "Patterns Of Force - Act 2 - Plague Agenda" drops a Pepper Keenan burner of a riff when you least expect it (in the middle of a three-part mini-slam-opera is certainly when you'd least expect Internal Bleeding to remind you of Down... or maybe it's right when you'd most expect it, search me), but those moments help liven up a band whose past releases were too often so oppressive they became difficult, if not downright antagonistic, to listen to. The closing soaring solo ending off "Castigo Corpus Meum" is an effectively moody way to end the album. So, yeah, a few moments of fun reaching out mixed in with all the Dying Fetus-by-way-of-Cannibal Corpse sounds that you'd expect, delivered with the whiff of originators, not followers, adds up to a solid, and surprisingly fun, slammy USDM experience.
