UMUR
Chapters Of Repugnance is the 3rd full-length studio album by German death metal act Defeated Sanity. The album was released in May 2010 by Willowtip Records. Defeated Sanity received a lot of positive criticism for their 2nd full-length studio album Psalms of the Moribund (2007), so Chapters Of Repugnance was an album many people had high expectations to.
The music on the album is US influenced brutal death metal ( Early Suffocation is my first thought). The vocals are particularly brutal and completely undecipherable. They vary between deep guttural growling and various processed forms of growls. The music is quite acrobatic when it comes to tempo changes which happens just about every second or so. Blast beating, then fast playing, blast beating again, then a heavier section. One of the assets of the album is the high level of musicianship in display. One of the lowpoints is how the musicians chose to spend their talents. I don´t lie if I say that the 31:53 minute long album feels like an eternity to me. There´s not a single hook or memorable part to hold on to. This is where I think brutality becomes almost ridiculous. Especially the vocals. They are extremely monotone and without any form of emotion on display they just become an annoying noise on top of the technically well played death metal underneath. Compared to Psalms of the Moribund, I´d say very little has happened and I´m sure fans of that album will greatly enjoy this one too. I´m told there´s a new lead vocalist on Chapters Of Repugnance, but I promise you it´s not audible ( for better or worse depending on your point of view). The lyrical concept hasn´t changed since the last album either. We´re still treated to some pretty generic blood´n´gore themed lyrics.
The production is powerful and suits the music well, so no issues there.
Chapters Of Repugnance is, for it´s genre, a professional and well played album. The problem with the most brutal forms of death metal is that artists playing the style have a tendency to sacrifice memorability over brutality. The irony is that albums like these are so packed with brutal down-tuned riffs and growling vocals, that the dynamics that create brutality are completely lost in monotony. It´s become a race on who can produce the most brutal death metal album ever. That´s also how I feel about this album. So this one might deserve a 3.5 star rating for some of its professional qualities, but there are simply too many things I don´t enjoy about it to warrant such a high rating. I´d say a 2.5 - 3 star rating is more fair. Stop the competition, quit the processed vocals ( yes I wan´t to hear that you spat blood after each rehearsal before I´m satisfied) and write some memorable riffs and you might still have the chance to win over this reviewer.