Carcinogen - Unholy Aggression (2010)

Part of the reason I love Carcinogen's Unholy Aggression is because it remembers ye olden days of death metal, back when the music was about assaulting the enemy, blitzkrieg, and atmosphere. Although the group's third release sports an immaculate production, it does so with individuality, mostly because the bass's clank is at the heart of the mix and, sadly, nearly unheard of by today's metal producing standards. Carcinogen's music recollects on primitive times, which are apparent as the late '80s and early '90s when extreme metal was emerging as a prominent force in the underground. By doing so, it pays homage to what came beforehand by outfitting itself with an explosive combination of death and thrash metal. Slayer, Morbid Angel, and Pestilence-type riffs are easily picked out of the murky, yet morbid aesthetic and bear slight resemblance to the Swedish death metal guitar tone popular over 20 years ago, but Carcinogen fashions it to the Floridian side of the spectrum akin to Morbid Angel, as well as Decide and others. While I ordinarily write music like this off as a sort of tribute, these Long Islander's material is a much welcomed modern interpretation of death metal's long-lasting heritage.

Predictably, the band's EP sounds extremely similar for its 25 minute duration, with the occasional break for a melodic oasis, but one has to keep in mind that the archetypical death metal model has never been about variation. Unholy Aggression's strength lies in ironing out the little imperfections that have popped up in the subgenre over the years, and though it still isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, the release remains an enjoyable slab of metal that builds upon what has already been established. In an era largely lacking originality, Carcinogen refreshes a sound that is making a comeback to the metal masses.

-TMA