Incinerated "Lobotomise" CD

Lobotomise CD re-issue through Dawnbreed Records with you are dog food insert.

Right off the bat I'll tell you, Incinerated's "Lobotomise" works on a pretty standard death metal philosophy. Mix two parts Mortician to one part Suffocation and you'll get this record. Calling it straight Mortician worship would be a bit unfair, there's clearly more going on in this record than that. Not to mention there's a welcome lack of 2+ minute horror movie clip padding. But there's absolutely multiple riffs on this record that are reworked Mortician riffs. The tracks "Released" and "Captured" in particular are some of the worst offenders of blatant Mortician rip-offery. Even going so far as to have the classic Will Rahmer growl at the end of "Chainsaw Dismemberment" seemingly copy and pasted to the end of "Captured". It is an effective formula to throw riffs into and get an absurdly mean sound. To be fair it's worked for Mortician for about 30 years now with only minor deviation. But it has definitely been done a hundred times before.

All that to say this is not a bad record by any means. Mortician copy-ing aside, this band does bring excellent riffs and musicianship to the table. There's even multiple 808 drops throughout this record. Which normally is totally corny, but that doesn't ring true at all here. Which brings me to the real stand-out element of "Lobotimise". The production is absolutely pummeling. Top tier pummeling. Whoever recorded this knew what they were doing. Brutal Death Metal can be taxing on the ears, it gets sounding very same-y. Which I get is part of the appeal of this type of music, but even with 808 drops, strings-dragging-on-the-ground level of detuned guitars, and a vocalist that stays solidly in the guttural range with little variation each riff and beat-em-down slow part on this album stays front and center drilling into your head like some sort of deranged horror movie monster. It really is enviable just how good of a job the band did producing this record. And clocking in at only a little over 17 minutes, it leaves you wanting more of those tasty riffs.

The bass guitar in particular is the real stand out on "Lobotomise". Practically speaking it's really hard to get a heavy and present tone on the bass guitar for music this fast and detuned. A lot of Brutal death metal and slam is lacking it. Perhaps that's a purposeful aesthetic choice, but it's one I've personally always hated. Why have brutal riffs if you're just going to clip off the low end balls? Incinerated doesn't do that at all, and this record is much better for it. The bass drives those brutal riffs so damn hard it would be hard not to enjoy this record purely for that one element.

Altogether, I'm taking a handful points away for resting a little too comfortably on Mortician's book of tricks. But this record is heavy. There's no other way to describe it. If you are a fan of Death Metal at all I can guarantee you will find something to enjoy out of Incinerated's "Lobotomise". It's a streamlined hammer to the god damned face. No frills, it's not flashy at all, just superb production and riffs. Highly recommended to anyone looking for something fast and brutal as fuck.

Sample: youtube.com/watch?v=viHJ4G0XfRo