Garden
of Eyes - Boomhammer
England/UK
Ancient
Entity Records / AHPN Records
Garden of Eyes is a one-man project from England playing rotten death metal and "Boomhammer" is their latest work – a short 2-track EP clocking in at 8 minutes. The music has a thick buzzsaw sound reminiscent of Swedish death metal, although I can also hear a bit of Finnish death in their sound. You could say the sound is like a mix of the two. There's a lot of distortion on the guitar that gives the music quite a vicious feel, coupled with the evil vocal effects. The two tracks on this demo are rather brief, but have a resounding impact in terms of their execution. I would say that Nattskog has a good knack for composing solid death metal that is loaded with an array of crushing riffs. The music is decidedly straightforward and simple, but well structured and quite dark. There's definitely a bit of early UK doom to the sound as well, especially during the slower parts. The raw production suits the music and the simple approach works for the band. I noticed that the drums are programmed, although they do not sound overbearing, as the attention is mainly on the riffs and vocals. Overall, this is a solid slab of morbid death metal and recommended for fans of the old Swedish and Finnish scenes. (HT)