I thought the days of SUFFOCATION cloning were done! In all fairness though, there’s a very good reason why SUFFOCATION was ripped off more than an other death metal band, and it’s due to the fact that SUFFOCATION plays some great live music. If you’re a death metal band having some difficulty getting out there, and all you have is the live show, the best death metal band to rip off more than else one else is of course SUFFOCATION
If you’re familiar with SUFFOCATION then you’re familiar with the “Smith Blast”, a drum beat as simple as hitting the bass drum, snare drum, and often the hi-hat all at once. You’d be familiar with the slightly grindy nature of quick moving riffs to slow moving breakdowns. You’d probably also be familiar with the low gruff vocals, which in this case are more diverse than SUFFOCATION with a few more mid-ranged and higher pitched screams. Unlike SUFFOCATION, NERVOCHAOS almost completely lacks guitar solos.
The biggest problem of course that SUFFOCATION clones have always had has never been matching the quality or speed of the real thing. Indeed, most clones bands of this sort come off more as a cheap imitation. NERVOCHAOS never quite gets up to the same level of speed and intensity as the bands they worship, nor are they able to create a gloomy atmosphere when the tempo slows. About the only thing they do provide is a guestlist of black and death metal stars. Alex Camargo of KRISIUN, John McEntee of INCANTATION, Emperor Magus Caligula of DARK FUNERAL, Sanquine and Wrath of AVERSE SEFIRA and Barney Greenway of NAPALM DEATH all make vocal appearances (I’m guessing anyways, since my copy doesn’t say what the guests do or what song they’re featured on). Certainly there’s quite a few points in time when the vocals move from the standard low growl to something a little different, but to be honest, I couldn’t pick out any signature voices.
The album title “Quarrel In Hell” seems pretty fitting after several sloppy listens. It lacks so much character and intensity that it couldn’t even come close to being an epic battle, or even a fistfight.
1/10
