DIRENOTES

Brain Stem
SYMPTOMS OF ANNIHILATION (STAGE 2)
Self-Release

Symptoms of Annihilation Stage 2 is the second part in a series of EPs. Nope, I’ve not had the pleasure of dissecting the original EP. So, I’ll be judging Stage 2 on it’s own merits rather then essentially seeing it as the tail end of a two-part album, or something like that.

The best way I can explain Stage 2 is this: imagine it’s 2004 and you’ve just discovered something like In Flames. You think ‘Hey, that has to be the heaviest thing around right?’ because the only thing you\’ve heard before them is Rammstein. One day, you hit up a pawn shop and you see this wicked cover of like double-horrible versions of the sand-worms from Dune. That logo, it looks like it may hint towards this wicked band being somewhat like the In Flames you listen to. So you buy it for a few bucks, run home and pop it in either your shitty boom-box or discount DVD player. Mind blown. You\’ve just ascended to the next level of awareness within the metal genre.

Yes, SOA Stage 2 invokes that nostalgic feeling for me. It feels like the death metal weaved throughout the stacks of CDs I carried with me in the mid to late ’00s. It has nigh the same production quality, but more importantly it has that power paired with digestable speed that made death metal bands of that time so great. It\’s not all whats-been either, there is a sprinkle of technicality in there. Not to mention a really good attention to bass, with some really wicked bass parts on Sol Invictus, The Unspoken Ire and Dawn of Rot. So, most of the album. I can’t tell if I’m inspired to improve my own bass playing, or throw my guitar out the window in realization that I probably won\’t ever touch upon the skill of someone like Brad Fife. If you ever read this, Brad Fife, your talent may be responsible for the destruction of a five-string Ibanez bass. Remember that.

The rest of the band is there too, killing dreams. What is referred to as ‘experimentation’ in this group is really just the balls to mesh together things that generally sound good rather then lean back on standard death metal expectations. So, unlike some of the ‘pure’ death metal I\’ve had the pleasure of hearing – this mixes quite a bit from all over the subgenre. No, you won’t be hearing a mix of techno, progressive, or country on this EP. You really won’t be hearing many solos, because the band is too busy just laying down some heavy as hell sections. I never really got how rock-like solos fit into ‘death metal’ anyhow, perhaps the boys at Brain Stem felt the same way. This is all in your face, made to be that way.

Though merely an EP of four tracks, Symptoms of Annihilation (Stage 2 in this case) certainly has the scope of a album. I suppose the concise nature of an EP allows the band to focus strongly on select tracks, and it really shows as each seems to be crafted with love and care – or, you know death and mayhem. Would it be so wrong to say Stage 2 may have been lovingly crafted by Brain Stem to assault your eardrums? In a good way, if there even is a good way to do such a thing?