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By JEFF MAKI
There has been quite the build-up regarding the Prosthetic Records debut of Year of Desolation. The Indiana band formed in 2001 and prides itself upon being a “true” metal band. No dancing, no singing and no fashion allowed here. Their self-titled debut meets these standards and more, relying more often on influences such as early In Flames and Carcass rather than Killswitch Engage. The closest comparison could be Arch Enemy, though Year of Desolation is more brutal than melodic. Both bands share the same Iron Maiden guitar melodies to an extent and the vocals are almost interchangeable at times.
This thing shreds—what more can I say? Year of Desolation refuse to lower the tempo and each song is a surefire blast of hate. I don't know who the hell pissed these guys off, but I wouldn't want to be on their hit-list with lyrics like, “You will learn to speak with me with respect or you'll be my slave/You can't spit lies and blasphemy/We'll fill your mouth with razor blades and glass/Razor blades and broken glass.” And lead vocalist Chad Zimmerman spits forth these lyrics with such conviction, making his performance on this recording the best I have heard in some time. Like so many other bands cropping up, there are two guitarists featured here, John Hehman and Josh Kappel. Needless to say, though, their unbelievable leads are more than a few notches ahead of the curve; the guitar parts often carry the song a long way.
The only downside would be a lack of variety within the album's 11 tracks. Nothing mid-tempo here. But with shit this brutal, who needs it? Standouts include the opener “Elitist Death Squad,” and the old-school In Flames-style “Suffer Thy Nemesis.” The ending of this song is just fuckin' bad ass. Year of Desolation uses a formula throughout the album with no obvious choruses until each song has a violent and climatic finish with the would-be chorus inserted here. The guitar attack is at it's heaviest in the middle of the album with “Erasing Your Existence,” “The Economy of Excess” and “Forged in the Flames of Malcontent.” There are modern elements present here, as well, most noticeably the booming bass hits and great production.
Year of Desolation shows the listener no mercy. There is no intro, no acoustic interludes, no good cop/bad cop vocals, no keyboards—only metal. Everything is just so fuckin’ bad-ass about this release, even down to the album artwork by renowned artist Paul Romano (Trivium, The Acacia Strain - www.workhardened.com) which folds out to an expanded poster. Year of Desolation is no imitator. There's nothing fake here. Imagine As I Lay Dying or Killswitch Engage three times heavier and eviler with no clean vocals and you're about half way to Year of Desolation. I'll be surprised if their debut doesn't end up in many best-of lists for 2007. It's too early for that yet, but this one won't easily be forgotten.
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