Album Review by Bradley Christensen
Decrepit Birth - …And Time Begins
Record Label: Unique Leader
Release Date: October 7 2003
My last review was on Cryptopsy’s 1996 LP, None So Vile, and they’re definitely one of the more interesting and unique death metal bands that I’ve come across, because their sound teeters on the lines between deathgrind and teech-death, because of how brutal and insane it is, but also for how technical and unique their sound is, too. They’re one of those bands that has that crossover appeal with certain kinds of death metal, and they don’t limit themselves to just one style of death metal. I’d honestly credit Cryptopsy, whether I’d credit the whole band or None So Vile, specifically, as being a pioneering force for tech-death, and maybe even deathgrind, because at that point when the album came out, tech-death was in its first stages. Bands like Necrophagist, Arsis, and Nile were just about to release their debut albums, and other bands, like Gorguts, Death, Suffocation, and many other bands were already on their way to becoming tech-death masters, and in the case of Suffocation, they also had a grindcore influence in their sound that was a bit more brutal than what other death metal fans were used to hearing, but they still had a very technical aura to them. Tech-death itself really blew up in the early 00s, because that’s, well, when bands like Necrophagist, Arsis, and Nile really started to experiment and expand their sound. Another band that is very well-renowned in that scene is Decrepit Birth. They’re so well-renowned, even back then, that they started their own record label, Unique Leader. I never knew that was their record label, actually, and I’ve listened to albums released through that label, but I found that out when I decided to pick up their debut album, 2003’s …And Time Begins.
I decided to grab this while I was getting into other early 00s tech-death bands, and in the same case of Cryptopsy, I had listened to it a few times, but I never got a chance to review it, because I kept getting a lot more tings, but I’ve wanted to talk about it for the longest time. Admittedly, when it comes to this album, I don’t have a lot to say about it, because it’s not as genre-defining or influential as None So Vile was, especially for its time, but there’s something to say about this record. It’s a half hour of insanely brutal and technical death metal from a band that’s still going strong today. The thing is, though, this is one of those albums that’s not all that unique. I mean, Necrophagist and Nile, in particular, are two very interesting bands that deserve more recognition for being unique and experimental, but Decrepit Birth scratched the itch of people that wanted tech-death that was more brutal than technical, progressive, and unique. This album is very technical, and it sounds incredibly impressive, but it’s also not flashy, pretentious, or weird for the sake of it. It’s very brutal, insane, and unrelenting, just as death metal should be, so I fee like this is perfect for death metal fans that want something a bit more technical, but they don’t want something extremely experimental, either. Even if you like those bands, sometimes it’s okay to listen to something more cut-and-dry, and while this band isn’t exactly in that vein, they remind me a lot of Suffocation. I brought them up a bit earlier, but Suffocation is a tech-death band that started off with a grindcore influence in their sound, so it was both technical and brutal, and something like that hasn’t been seen before.
I’d argue that Suffocation is a big influence, as well as Cryptopsy, on deathgrind, including bands like Exhumed, Cattle Decapitation, and Aborted, three bands I really, really enjoy, but you can hear that influence here, too. This isn’t on the same level, because it’s not quite a deathgrind album, or anything like that, but their brand of tech-death is more primal, brutal, and just heavy for the sake of it, although there are some flashy solos and moments like that. I’d totally recommend this album, considering how short it is (and truthfully, it would be a lot shorter if the last song, which is the title track, wasn’t nine minutes long, and the last three minutes are random and atmospheric noises, so I just skip through that part). It’s only a half hour, so you really can’t go wrong with this album, and it’s not super reliant on guitar solos, let alone trying to be as flashy as possible, although I don’t mind that when it comes to tech-death. They have a more direct approach to tech-death, especially in this album, so maybe they’ve changed their sound over the years, at least in terms of tech-death, but this album makes me think of Cannibal Corpse going a bit more technical in their sound. Not much, but enough to call them a tech-death band. Not that they ever would, either, but there’s definitely more of a basic death metal sound here, just with a more technical edge to it. I love this album, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a very generic album that doesn’t do anything that other bands at that time weren’t doing, so I wouldn’t say this thing is all that influential, or really as important for the genre. That doesn’t mean it’s not a good album, since I enjoy what this album is trying to do. It’s a simple tech-death album that’s also extremely brutal, insane, and awesome, so yeah, I like this a lot.
Decrepit Birth - ...And Time Begins 1. Prelude to the Apocalypse 2. Condemned to Nothingness 3. Thoughts beyond Infinity 4. The Infestation 5. Rebirth of Consciousness 6. Shroud of impurity 7. Concepting the Era 8. Of Genocide 9. ...And Time Begins Short Technical Death Metal Album, but still quite great
