Band:	Cholera
Album:	Prophecies Of Annihilation
Style:	Progressive death metal
Release date:	2011
A review by:	BitterCOld

01. Road Into The Fire
02. Enslaved Humanity
03. The Lost Traveler
04. Reminisence
05. Prophecies Of Annihilation

A couple weeks ago Doc Godin asked me if I wanted cholera. I promptly told him to get bent. Fortunately he pressed the issue and explained it was Cholera, the Canadian two-piece band, not the disease. I'm glad he did make that second effort.

Cholera are a bit outside my regular musical review sphere, playing a progressive, technical death metal. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure how "death" this band is? I don't hear anything particularly Suffocation or anything here. To me it's a technical, progressive metal band with an aggressive, harsh approach. Not a knock on the band by any stretch, just the labeling process.

The problem I have with prog metal and skilled guitarists is technical gymnastics there merely for technical gymnastics sakes. "Gee mom, look what I can do!" People should do their wankery in private, imbo.

However, with Cholera, it's not that simple. While gymnastic riffs abound, it's not just fretboard diarrhea*. Prophecies Of Annihilation have some power chord mashing, but also feature an onslaught of winding riffs reminiscent of [url= http://metalstorm.net/bands/band.php?band_id=163]MegaDavE[/url] at his early, heroin-induced best. The riffs are hornets buzzing around the brain.

While the compositions are loooooooooong (the first four tracks average about 13 minutes each), they keep from getting bogged down by shifting as they move along. Beyond just stereotypical guitar shredding, the band incorporate keyboards - both in a symphonic support role as well as the occasional prog-style 'lead' and they even break up some of the long tracks by having the floor drop out from underneath. You're riffing and shredding along and suddenly, poof! A stark piano piece like something out of a slasher film or a piano and mello cello section. Changes in course like that are why I refer to the tracks as compositions rather than songs ("Reminiscence" specifically) - as just calling them songs, with the simplistic connotations thereof, wouldn't do them justice. Top in the occasional middle-eastern flourish and you've got something that sets itself apart (and above) the rest of the pack.

Frankly, it is interesting and intriguing.

Vocals are split between a whispered-growl reminiscent of some early Burton C. Bell (Fear Factory) and a clean voice. Both are serviceable, and relatively sparse. The strength of the band is their multi-disciplined musical chops?

The whole package is helped out by the production, which really helps augment the experience. Sounds good without sounding overly slick or polished.

So if you dig music with technical chops and a more cerebral approach, check it out. The style, in general, isn't my cup o' tea, and I never anticipated typing these words, but I'm really glad I got Cholera.



* the band's name is Cholera, how could I NOT toss in a diarrhea reference at some point? Cha-cha-cha.