My gripes for Apocalyptic Feasting are hard to verbalize. I don't hate this album with a burning passion like so many others seem to, yet at the same time I would not feel heartbroken in the slightest if all of the members were to die in a freak gardening accident. All of the band members are precise beyond my comprehension, and I'm left with my head spinning and my balls throbbing after every song; and while honest riffs may be few and far between, the sheer intensity and copious frills are enough to satisfy most tech death fans. But in the end, that's all this is. It's a frilly and heavily made up mannequin for tech death fans, and nobody else. I'm not saying Gamma Ray should start playing thrash or that Candlemass should take up hip hop purely to include new fans, but Brain Drill's first full length is so mindbogglingly technical, is actually alienating.
So, while Brain Drill may not be a gateway band, they are satisfying enough for an established fan of the style. The vocals are nothing to write home about, but they fill the space and do their job quite well. Unfortunately, while both his low and mid range screams are adequate, they are predictable to the point of infuriating. While the instrumentals are entirely chaotic, he switches between his two styles with a pace and certainty equatable to that of the fucking tides. Maybe my legal and totally not downloaded copy is a little goofy on the quality front, but it seems like there is almost a computerized tinge to the higher screams. The gargling rasp sounds almost artificial when he utilizes the higher register. But maybe this is just my mind playing tricks on me due to the robotic precision of Marco's drumming. Here's a PSA to all of y'all dolts who don't actually know how triggers work. Yes, the drums are triggered to high hell, but this does not automatically make them fake or programmed. A trigger just ensures that each drum will make the same sound, it's not like he isn't actually playing that incredibly fast. I'm not saying metal drums are never programmed or artificial, but I guess a really large pet peeve of mine is when people dismiss a band/album due to triggered drums.
And on that note, let me comment on the instrumentals. This is where the main reason behind the score and title come from. Throughout the entire half hour of the record, my attention is repeatedly grabbed and lost about twelve billion times per song. While my brain does melt a little bit with each listen, half of the melting is caused by amazement and the other half by sheer boredom. This is an album of nanoseconds. I love the album for eight nanoseconds, become bored for the next four, love it again for the next seven, and then hate it for the next ten. This never stops, and this constant fluctuation is caused by the very element of the music that makes it so enjoyable for some, and completely despicable for others, the chaos. There is almost no structure to any song, and rarely are riffs repeated more than twice. Maybe it's because I have an enormous stiffy for SikTh, but the fast, dissonant, and unpredictable nature of the songs isn't really a big deal to me, it's just that Brain Drill is completely tasteless in this department. There is virtually no songwriting skill involved with about 80% of the record, as this is mainly a showcase for their chops. While writing this, I made note of an exceptional riff that was used once in the middle of the record, and for the life of me I cannot remember which song it was on, and I believe that revelation should serve as an everlasting testament to what Apocalyptic Feasting really is, which about as memorable as brushing your teeth. The reason the album earns a failing grade is because of how unmemorable it is.
Really, I have no reason to listen to this other than to headbang for a bit and maybe scare some of my less metal friends. Brain Drill is as technical as Hitler was bat-shit insane, but it is as memorable as the drive to work and as enjoyable as gonorrhea. If constant blast beats and nigh unending harmonized sweeps turn you on, then go and buy this right now. If you like to remember what you just listened to, then don't bother. Apocalyptic Feasting will blow your mind with it's technicality and precision, but you won't be able to give a shit after ten minutes.
RATING - 50%
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