When I first placed this album in my CD player, it really surprised me.
This might have something to do with my relative inexperience with pure
death, grind, gore and other similar styles of extreme metal, or the
fact that this is just a very good album. At first I struggled with
this sound, however, this was very short-lived when I really listened
to what was going on, hearing the intricate nature of this brutally
heavy sound.
Balatonizer are an Italian trio who have been hanging around the scene
since 1997 and ‘Occlused in Ottusity’ is a full-length release
featuring thirty-two songs, each within the one-minute boundary. Each
song pile drives straight into a riff with programmed drumming and a
death growl that instead of communicating lyrically actually forms
another instrumental sound. Bookmaking most of the tracks are sound
bites and clips from Italian mafia and cult films from the 70’s.
As somebody who has never really been into this style of utterly brutal
music, Balatonizer has sparked some unexpected interest. Not only for
the quality within, but also because it might have opened my eyes and
ears towards this sound which can be very difficult to appreciate. This
is brutal death metal that is rife with great riffs and energy.
However, due to the extreme nature of the sound, this would not suit
most tastes. If death, grind, and gore metal is your thing then you
couldn’t really go wrong with this.
Rate: 6,5/10
By Stephen Holder
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