After the well-taken Cause of Death, James Murphy left, and Allen West was re-inserted, the difference is quite obvious, the riffs are totally different than the previous 2. While they had more complex, but still simple riffs, this takes the simple but effective riffs further. They are catchy and heavy, but simple
The production is quite a bit different too, more of a muddy, but not too muddy sound to it, the drum sound is the biggest difference, not quite as loud as they were on Cause of Death, but it works. The guitar has a little more of a flatter sound than COD, but has a good sound for the album. The bass is heard quite well, the vocals sound a bit more pushed back than the previous 2 also, and he doesn't really do that wild loud scream anymore, which I kind of miss, but oh well, John Tardy still has great vocals.
The logo is very different too, look at the previous 2 logos, then look at this, totally different, this is Roadrunners best selling shirt.
Now, does this album top Cause of Death? no that would be too hard. Does this album kick ass? very much. the album kicks off with "I'm in Pain" which has an interesting intro...it starts with feedback!, this is one of the faster tracks on it, nice riffs being thrown around, and a shredding solo. Just about all the tracks are good between the first and the title track, the only one I don't care for is "Corrosive" it's nothing special, this is why I took 5% off the album rating. Now The End Complete is probably the best song on here, a very catchy song all the way through, shredding solo, then a catchy outro riff which lasts about 2 minutes. Then comes Rotting Ways, which is one of the slowest on the album, also the longest, but has wicked nice riffs going around, creepy sounding riffs, a strong way to close a good album.
Well, there it is, if you liked Cause of Death, and don't mind a bit of a change, look here, if you want another Cause of Death, don't look here.
Sample:
Official promo video:
