Band:	Avicularia
Album:	Born To Be Vile
Style:	Avantgarde death metal
Release date:	April 17, 2009
A review by:	Doc G.

01. Intro
02. Anthem To Arms
03. Confrontation
04. Stand By
05. Born To Be Vile
06. Succubus
07. Spiralling Doom
08. Requiem For Ego

Have you ever had one of those days where the entire universe is working against you? You get 3 questionable parking tickets, your boss forgets to write your paycheck, and then your high-school prom date shows up on your doorstep with a child that bears a stunning resemblance to you. You know that breaking point you hit where you just couldn't give a shit anymore? Where you end up driving 110mph in the wrong lane through a playground zone with 3 popped tires and a missing windshield, all the while wearing nothing but the twisted grin that reflects your broken mind? This is music for the peak of that glorious moment.

Admittedly, this is a pretty difficult album to get into the first time through, purely because of the song placement. The first couple songs on the album are pure brutal death metal - satisfying, yet bland. The album is about halfway through when we see the "avantgarde" side of the band rear it's ugly head. Boy, is that 13 minute wait worth it though. Bizarre melodies are brought into the mix amongst the sonic mayhem taking place - eerie, psychotic leads placed over-top some organic, earthy sounding death metal. To match the demented sounding riffs there is some absolutely bizarre drum sounds, the symbols almost sound as if they are played on pots and pans. Such off-the-wall drum sounds may sound like crap when trying to describe in words, but in context with the gruesome music being played, it only adds to the madness. The bass has an equally "crappy" sound to it - a soft, shallow plunking sound paired flawlessly with the crack-brained drumming makes this album what it is - the sound of some horrid machine falling apart, only to rebuild itself again in a split second to crash and fall apart again.

The downside to this album is a glass-half-full vs glass-half-empty type situation. As previously stated, the unique aspects don't come through until the last 4 songs. If the band had chosen to disperse the more generic tracks throughout the album as opposed to dividing the album split down the middle, perhaps the whole thing would have come off as a lot stronger. Luckily the good outweighs the bad in this one.

Altogether a very strong debut from what appears to be a really promising band. A definite recommendation for anyone looking for some variation in their death metal without compromising brutality.