SPAWN OF POSSESSION — Cabinet (review)

SPAWN OF POSSESSION — Cabinet album cover Album · 2003 · Technical Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Cabinet" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Spawn of Possession. The album was released through Unique Leader Records in January 2003. Spawn of Possession formed in 1997 and released "The Forbidden" demo in 2000 and the "Church of Deviance" demo in 2001. "Dirty Priest" from "The Forbidden (2000)" demo and all three tracks from the "Church of Deviance (2001)" demo are featured in re-recorded versions on "Cabinet".

Stylistically the music on "Cabinet" is ultra technical brutal death metal. Constantly shifting tempos, breaks, and unconventional time signatures are some of the main ingredients of the music. The riffs are strong, twisted, and very creative for the genre, the drumming is technical and sharp, and lead vocalist/drummer Dennis Röndum delivers a decent growling performance. The vocals are probably the least interesting feature on the album though, as they are fairly standard for the genre, but they get the job done fine and listening to some of the vocal rhythm patterns it shouldn´t be lost on the listener that Röndum is a drummer.

While "Cabinet" is certainly a very brutal death metal release, the album actually features a sound production which isn´t as bottom heavy and raw as many other contemporary releases in the genre. Initially I felt the album lacked a little power as a result of the production choices, but having given the album more spins I´ve arrived at the conclusion that the fact that the sound production is less massive and meaty than what is typical for the genre, makes the album stand out more, and it also has the advantage that all instruments and vocals are clearly defined in the mix. In other words "Cabinet" features a very well sounding production.

The material on "Cabinet" are well written and in some cases pretty catchy (well...relatively). This is not easy listening material by any means though, and the constantly changing tempos and breaks are bound to keep the listener on his/her toes throughout the playing time. There are some jaw-dropping technical moments on the album, but Spawn of Possession thankfully possess restraint too, which means they almost always incorporate a hook, a guitar solo, a melodic intro, or something else to prevent the listener from being overwhelmed and tired of listening to an album long tech fest. So upon conclusion "Cabinet" is one of those rare brutal technical death metal albums which stand out. There´s an original approach to the songwriting, the musicianship is through the roof, and the album also features an interesting production job. It´s a high quality release through and through and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.
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