Dominance are actually a rather old
Death Metal band that was created in 1992 and that already released a first full-length in 1999 for Scarlett Records. After having toured with bands like
Malevolent Creation,
Krabathor or
Suffocation, the Italians have faced several aggravating problems (line-up, label,…) which put an abrupt end to their career while seeing the rise of their fellow-countrymen
Natron. Eventually in 2008, most of these issues are past them, and Davide Tognoni and fellow henchmen finally record their second album at Studio 73.
Released by the brand new transalpine label
Kolony Records,
Echoes of
Human Race (2009) is a real resurrection for a band that seemed to have run out of luck.
Past the short intro, the track
Last Witness delivers some classical and efficient
Death Metal, mostly based on old-school riffs but infinitely more elaborate than what you would expect of, let’s say,
Bolt Thrower. Actually the first names I could think of are
Trauma (Poland) and above all things
Blood Red Throne: identical massive production, similar drums sound, snapping bass (which makes for similar riffs too) amd Mauro Bolognesi’s vocals that clearly are reminiscent of Mr
Hustler’s excellent performance on Altered Genesis.
As in the cover picture portraying a serviceman finishing a Christian on a battlefield,
Dominance are not for the faint-of-heart. Centering their compositions on wall-of-sound rhythmical parts from the Gianluca Fontanesi / Marco Bertolini pair and supported by the regular bludgeoning (though somewhat too academic) of Davide Tognoni, sometimes you can even grasp
Natron’s shadow on some technical parts (Gilgamesh). A few more melodic elements are sometimes inserted in the tracks for a somewhat lukewarm result.
Alternating between heavy and fast tracks,
Dominance eventually keep the metalhead’s interest up throughout the whole record, even gratifying him with an overpowered The
Siege that would have been well suited on the formidable Altered Genesis.
On the other hand, the Black
Metal elements found in the track The Duellists are rather discomfiting, only showing that
Dominance are still looking for their own style. The potential, however, is here and after a full decade with no records released, it would have been a bit daring to think they could come up with a groundbreaking album. If
Dominance eventually can find their own personal style and write more solid tracks like The
Siege,
Unholy Birth or The Sailor, they may be able to rank high together with Italy’s
Death Metal leaders
Natron,
Hour Of Penance and
Sadist.
Dominance still achieve the feat to not fit in
Death Metal’s two most ‘trendy’ scenes of nowadays: ultra fast and technical
Death Metal and raw and minimalist retro
Death Metal. They just play good
Death Metal, powerful and efficient and they seem to enjoy playing that kind of music. Claiming global domination may just be too early for them, but Deathsters won't care for they definitely should enjoy this act.
This is not my own review. It's merely a translation of BEERGRINDER's review originally written in French and translated into English with his consent. For the original review in French, please go to:http://www.spirit-of-metal.com/album-groupe-
Dominance-nom_album-Echoes_of_Human_Decay-l-fr.html
É necessário que estejas conectado/a para adicionares um comentário