'Born in A Lazarus Pit'

(Self-produced CD)










MARK: 72/100




 

Probably connected to the album title, the green and black cover and the back cover depict a seductive blonde woman in a pit/cave later breast-feeding a baby. This is the second album from the indipendent self-produced Mexican/Californian outfit and it shows a band with excellent performing skills and fairly good songwriting.

The intro, just named "Intro" is made of anguishing Metalcore but it would have been better if the pause between itself and the following track hadn't been so long because this long pause just kills the atmosphere that is created to this point. This is due to a wretched mistake of the manufacturing company, since the pause is absent on the right version available on Itunes and Bandcamp, so let's hope for a remastered re-release sooner or later; for the moment I recommend you download the album to enjoy it in its full blossom.
"She Used My Face As A Pregnancy Test" displays Deathcore based on savage breakdowns, weighty riffs, fast sharp riffs and patterns reminding Cephalic Carnage, Psycroptic and the likes; the vocals vary from growls to Deathcore-styled ones delivering a stinging feeling during the listen, while the grand finale recurs to a persistent mid-tempo before a spoken excerpt from the flick "Back to the Future".
The beginning of "Winter Is Coming" is pretty much Death Metal matched with Deathcore singing along with other vocals in the vein of Devourment's; what comes after is a twisted break with fast double bass and a rather slow riff at the same time aiming to prepare us for a run of tom whacks which change all the structure. Again we're run over by an assortment of multiform extreme vocal styles making the song more interesting until a Metalcore breakdown with Death vocals concludes it.
As the title suggests ("I Call the Big One Bitey"), it has be no surprise that an excerpt from the movie classic "Jaws" opens the composition, quickly displaying stopped parts and several pattern modifications. After an abundancy of riffs comes the first axe solo at last and it's in the shape of Morbid Angel's first and Testament's in the final chop. Notable are the slamming Death Metal riffs and the Deathcore ones that are set later, while the drummer is delivering blastbeats in turns with other kinds of kick drum beats; the song contains afterwards a few elements not distant from the early Cannibal Corpse's material, preceding a second spoken insert from another moving picture ("Clerks"); the rest doesn't add anything new: a Devourment-like portion and a second guitar solo influenced by Morbid Angel finish the musical hostilities.
Over the first seconds of the title track one can hear Meshuggah-styled similarities until sand-paper vocals and some growling appear. There are more riffs comparable to the ones off the cited Swedish act as well as fast Death Metal passages, with the drummer avoiding cliched blastbeats by serving Metalcore, whereas guitar licks and bass solos anticipate the end in classic Metal with double bass till it's over.
The almost 5' 30" of "Count Choculittis" start with an odd rhythm and a guitar solo dear to Nile's fans later on; the riff unfolding right away after turns out involving in that it's again Metalcore but there's no place for boredom. When the speed changes we find engulfed by Death/Grind, but a few seconds later there's an axe solo on a Melodic Metal base! Take a short breath? Off we go with another assault and then a Morbid Angelesque guitar solo takes the spotlight without asking for permission. Guttural Death Metal vocals and a sped up break of Deathcore is what you'll find at the next moments; another pattern change warned by drumming and a bass solo continue the song, alternating brutal parts, fast Grind ones and another with an original, yet very brief riff. The main Metalcore pattern comes back, stopped till the next acceleration and the next guitar solo pop into, followed by the initial riff in crescendo on the guitar fret. The very last part is comprised of crushing rifferama.
An excerpt from the last motion picture used, "The Paperboy", constitutes the intro of "Waste of Time", a piece blending Metalcore and Brutal Death Metal, enriched by myriads of alterations sometimes stressed by extremely low bass lines. Please note the drummer's performance making it sound like a volley of stones. A marvellous intervention that some would dare define Prog Death sees the guitar trilling and the bass slapping at a certain point, and no-one would expect an axe solo in the backdrop just now.
The untitled eighth track comprises 4 short songs showing the humoristic side of the young band, using an acoustic guitar and clean singing in all of them: the first talks being homosexual, the second milk chocolate for every girl and boy, whereas the third offers a dick to a girl to taste it with her tongue; this is decidedly the apex of this track, closed by a hymn to various types of Mexican food and some retarded shouts.

You need to check out "Born in A Lazarus Pit". If you're in for Death Metal tainted with Deathcore and Metalcore, you will adore these dudes!



MARKUS GANZHERRLICH - September 4th, 2014






















Line-up on this record:
Will Ramirez - b.
Juan - d.
Rich Sharman - g.
Jake Burrmann - g. (also in Artillery Hell)

Victor Hernandez - v.





Contacts:
San Jose/Sunnyvale, CA - USA

E-mail:

Official sites:

http://www.repaidinblood.com/
https://www.facebook.com/RepaidInBlood






Demo-/Disco-graphy:
-Repaid in Blood (EP - 2007)
-Follow the Blood Trail (CD - 2008)
-One Bullet Shy of A Solution (EP - 2010)
-Born in A Lazarus Pit (CD - 2014)