Groove metal breathes through the heart of this album
Persistense's debut, In Blood and Heart, is a monster of a groovy death metal album. There's infectious hooks and riffs all over the place mixed in with solos with a simplistic drumming that guides the music along. The vocals are more done in a shouted grunt than the typical unintelligible cookie monster growl that most death metal bands have; it is still unintelligible but the sound is slightly a welcome change from the typical standard. Altogether, the band presents what can be called as mid paced death thrash, echoing influences from Testament to Vader and even Obituary.
The album starts off with a beautiful orchestra and piano introduction before the drums begin a battle march to signify what's to come. Don't let this little peaceful interlude lull you; it's the only respite the album offers. Following with "Further," the music kicks into death 'n roll mode while chugging away - the Vader influences from the album The Art of War can be heard here. The vocals are strained and bellowed, slightly buried in the music, which is somewhat of a good thing as it shows the mediocre production, however very much detested because some people enjoy crystal clear quality, makes the vocals seem very humanely done... at least for death metal standards. Tracks like "Overcome" have much more of a thrash sound to the music, focusing on the use of one guitar sounding very prominent amongst the rest by delving into a few solos before letting the rest of the instruments resume their pace. "Doomsday" has a very slow, string plucked introduction that is very intriguing and gives the listener a breathing moment before jumping back into the thrash metal vein. Again, here the one guitar can be heard clearly throughout most of the song while the rest of the music chimes in in the background.
The title track is the most cohesive song on the album; there's a really clear, melodic solo in the middle of the song before everything comes back together. Being the longest track on the album, it still is not the highlight track (that award goes to "Doomsday" for its unique structure). The final track, "Sick World," is a fast paced chugger, hammering along before closing with a great solo at the end. Altogether, the tracks compose one of the better debut albums a band has released; not a single flaw can be picked out from any track. It is obvious of the musicians' skill and dedication to their music, as well as their penchant to try to sound as humane in the studio as possible without letting the music tool programs run their lives to sound as mechanical as possible. While the riffs can get repetitive at times, they are ultimately, a joy to listen to. There's high hopes for these death thrash metallers yet.
(Deity Down Records)
