Article by Corey M.
One of the first obviously noticeable changes in the band’s style is a further streamlining of the music, made possible by mimicing the pacing of classic-era speed metal bands at their smoothest, often switching between thrashy drums over chunky punk-ish riffs and slower (but not groovy) stretches of ringing chords as the main way of shifting dynamics between segments within songs. A lead guitarist has been added to the line-up since the last album, and his solos are silky smooth while being exciting and fairly original given that each are written in a fairly boxy, speed metal style. Flashy and highly emotional guitar solos in extreme metal are usually either really good (e.g. Don’t Break the Oath, Rust in Peace, Sammath – Triumph in Hatred, early Death and Pestilence) or really bad (Carcass – Necroticism), but Mortuary Drape’s fall somewhere in the sparsely inhabited wasteland of the middle.
This falls in line with the rest of the band’s performance on this album; well-structured, consistent, effective use of non-guitar sounds, never really boring, but never righteously hateful enough to evoke a feeling of true darkness – something like video footage that has been set up to look like a convincingly real catastrophe, but too cleanly-presented and therefore obviously not actual footage of a real catastrophe. Overall this is a satisfying and fun listen, but I would strongly recommend checking out a stream before dedicating to a purchase, especially if this band never tickled your fancy in the first place.