Blood Oath is a monster. It lurches forward through the darkness of murky sewer-water, clawing at the tightly confined walls as it searches for prey. This monster antagonizes its victims on the surface with its recognizable growl, beating the walls with a rhythm so precise they can only cower in its presence.
Pretty scary stuff, and quite suitable for the Godfathers of New York death metal.
As this monster grasps at the walls and finally reveals itself to feed, the reaction is less intense than the poor beast likely expected. While the uninitiated run and scream for their lives, a crowd of black-shirted, short-sporting fellows with long hair stare, arms crossed across chest, a little perturbed at the demon. What has arisen causes plenty of bobbing heads, but also incites some nuanced looks. These dudes (and dudettes) were expecting The Host, but instead they got C.H.U.D.
As death metal goes, there is nothing wrong with Suffocation‘s latest creation. Slowing chugs? Check. Harsh vocals? Check. Pinch harmonics? Check. Furious blast beats courtesy of the endlessly talented Mike Smith? Check and check. It’s all here, but it’s what the band does with these elements that prevents them from surpassing the bar they set for themselves during their formative years. Songs progress at a dreadfully slow pace as they virtually abandon the start-stop mayhem that made Pierced From Within a blast to listen to. “Blood Oath,” “Dismal Dream,” and “Pray For Forgiveness” straddle the speed limit, recycling riffs that sound strikingly similar to those used on their 2006 self-titled disc. Everything starts to bleed together while the dexterous Terrance Hobbs attempts to save the day. “Cataclysmic Purification” utilizes pinched and natural guitar harmonics nicely, while “Mental Hemorrhage”‘s main riff is a killer composure of pull-offs, hammer-ons, and harmonization. While both songs breathe much needed energy into the disc, things fall flat again on the Suffocation-by-the-numbers “Come Hell or High Priest.”
Thus lies the key problem with Blood Oath: From artwork to song-titles, along to riffs and soloing, it’s simply Suffocation-by-the-numbers. The end result feels more like a band trying to be Suffocation than the band itself. It’s a competent record, but it’s not a very exciting one. While its best moments truly shine (“Mental Hemorrhage” is a doozy), it all feels like a band playing it safe. Suffocation are influential because of their refusal to play by the rules. Here’s to hoping that in the future they’ll break their own.
(6.3/10)
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