Oh, how I love New York Death Metal. The US state has left a monumentally influential stamp upon the stylistic fabric of the wider genre. A higher entry level for skillful technicality, brutality, groove, thematic depravity, and an overall capacity for increased heaviness are just a few of the genre attributes that have been jackhammered into Death Metal’s core sound by this one particular US state. Few online personalities have built a reputation so heavily based upon the history of NYDM, and Brutal Death Metal music as a whole, than Jimmy Forster, also known in various online spaces as ‘Jimmy From The Block’. Now, when online personalities announce their own music projects, I typically lean towards a mindset of trepidation, due to my experiences with a countless number of half-baked, poorly produced efforts by such online characters when attempting to branch beyond their usual video creation and social media output. It is exciting to say, then, that Mr Forster and Co have channeled every morsel of their obsessive Brutal Death Metal nerdyness into a two track demo that showcases an absolutely fantastically written and performed celebration of many of the genre’s finest old school attributes.
Forming the first segment of this big brutal apple is ‘Erosion of Vitality’, where the whole band engulfs the mix in a cavernous, shadowy, and bestial state. Centring around a mid frequency-scooped guitar performance from axeman Caleb Warren, the tenets of influence are rich. The band bounces buoyantly through muscular and claustrophobic riffs, and we are also privy to plenty of frantic, rabid, and occasionally harmonised bouts of guitar wizardry. Forster’s vocals are simply excellent, I had no idea that the man had such a wide range and often a gripping delivery. His low growls remind me of Intestine Baalism, whilst his drowning croaked frog vocals are reminiscent of many classic Mortal Decay tracks. His most impressive oration, however, arrives via his wretched Jay Hendershaw-esque highs, and they sound truly bloodthirsty. The song features numerous transitions and tempo shifts, and some of the closing guitar parts on this track are utterly crushing. The second track ‘Conceived Through Deprivation’ opens to a raw, jittering guitar lick and more Terrance Hobbs-esque soloing. The tight, claustrophobic, and bludgeoning sound of the band reminds me of some early Scattered Remnants tracks. The seriously headbangable slower riffs later on in the song are delightful, and the band borders on a vaguely Immolation-like sound in the track’s more chaotic moments.
These two tracks are the culmination of many classic American Death Metal styles blended together by die-hard genre addicts into a mean pungent cocktail of ideas. I’m truly impressed with what the band is offering here, and I look forward to hopefully witnessing a full-length release from Impure Conception somewhere down the line.
