Band:	Beneath The Massacre
Album:	Evidence Of Inequity
Style:	Brutal death metal, Technical death metal
Release date:	May 12, 2005
Guest review by:	foschino

01. Comforting Prejudice
02. Profitable Killcount
03. Totalitarian Hypnosis
04. Regurgitated Lullaby For The Borndead
05. Never More

Along with Neuraxis, Ion Dissonance and Despised Icon, Montreal's Beneath the Massacre is one of the talented newcomers that make Quebec play a dominant role in extreme metal scene nowadays. The band was formed in the summer of 2004, and certainly did not waste time from then on. After playing a few shows, they entered the studio at the beginning of this year and recorded their debut five song EP, "Evidence of Inequity".

Let the massacre begin.

The music this band plays is what I would define as "mind boggling death metal". Influenced by Suffocation, Cryptopsy and Origin, these five songs are a perfect hybrid of different styles, combining astonishing technicality with traditional brutality, and focusing on complex and intricate patterns as well as slow and palm-muted breakdown sections.

The first song, Comforting Prejudice, has one of the most aggressive beginnings I've ever heard. The guitar plays an absurd riff, mixing solo techniques (sweep and tapping) with chords, and the drums play incredibly fast blast beats. It can rip you apart with its brutality and certainly makes you feel like starting it again and wondering how is it possible to play like that.

The songwriting is top-level. The guitar riffing is insane throughout the album and creates a "wall" of sound that often reveals an obscure and underlying melody. Solos are used in a "free-style" way to build rhythmic patterns, bearing strong resemblance to Origin and Decapitated, but with an intricacy that is difficult to describe. Guitar leads show incredibly fast sweeping and tapping that will make all the shredders out there astonished. Additionally, this band is also able to create heavy slower sections in a metalcore style, but without being repetitive. The last song, "Never More", has a muted staccato central section which would turn Meshuggah pale. In this case, the monolithic breakdown is not of a boring kind, but disturbing as hell, something that kicks you in the face and leaves you bleeding.

Along with the voice, a deep roar very similar to that of Frank Mullen, the drums are another pivotal element in the sound of the band. Furious blast beats are present in nearly every song, and it's impossible not to get blown away by them. Honestly, I must admit that they sound triggered sometimes (I'm not sure, anyway), particularly in the snare rolls, which in certain passages are beyond human possibilities. How they play live is what I'm looking forward to see.

Many influences come to my mind listening to this record, but what I like more than anything else about this band is just how they can blend them together in a complex musical insanity, in an absolute weirdness that makes them fresh, original, and distinct.

Everyone, from Suffocation, Cryptopsy, Decapitated and Origin fans to even The Dillinger Escape Plan and Psyopus listeners will certainly love this record, which is one of the most stimulating, brutal and technical releases of this year. The only thing that keeps me from giving this album a perfect rating is its short lenght. It leaves you needing for more, but I'm certain that this band will exceed all my expectations in the future.

The massacre has only just begun.