Spine Extraction – “Spine Extraction”

What with my recent A Vision Grotesque review and the info on the awesome free-to-download Carolina Summer Sampler, Loucifer Speaks has become a bit of a tribute to the Carolinas recently… and, since I didn’t want to break the theme just yet, I thought I’d review Spine Extraction’s debut album as well.

Spine Extraction’s demo has received multiple plays on my iPod over the past few months (actually, I think it’s coming onto almost a year! Wow, time flies!). I love every single moment of those 3 tracks and this made Spine Extraction’s self-titled debut one of my most anticipated releases of 2011. I was literally counting down the days until 1st August when the album was released through a variety of digital retailers.

The trouble with highly anticipated releases is that they rarely live up to the hype – whether it’s hype created by the band, record company or the fans themselves – more often than not, I find these albums fall short of the mark. Such was the danger with Spine Extraction’s debut full-length and there was the briefest hesitation before I pressed ‘play’ for the very first time. Let me talk you through what happened track-by-track…

Things kick off in familiar territory (well, it’s familiar if you’ve heard the demo) with “Abomination”. As expected, this track grabs you by the throat and chucks you around the room… and makes you enjoy every second of it. Genre-wise, like most of the album, it lurks somewhere between Death Metal (most notably of the technical variety), Metalcore and Thrash. However, for me the focus largely seems to be on the Death Metal side of things, which suits my tastes down to the ground.

“Eternity Awaits” is the first new track (if you want to check it out, it’s on the Carolina Summer Sampler) and it certainly doesn’t disappoint. While not as intense as “Abomination” it still packs a massive punch. The slower pace allows the track the opportunity to seep into your brain. It also makes me want to growl like vocalist Tripp King… which doesn’t work since I have the least menacing voice ever! When I growl, I find that it makes people say “aww”, pat me on the head and offer me a lolly pop. This is fantastic for my Chupa Chups addiction, but not so good for my Death Metal credibility.

Next up is good ol’ “Fleshless”. I still like to describe this one as “horror-esque” metal (I mentioned this in my review of the band’s demo a while back – click here to give it a read). In my opinion, this track is the weakest on the original demo, but it’s by no means poor. I’ll put it this way – “Abomination” and “Blackened Soul” were ‘Oh my God, this is fuckin’ awesome!’ while “Fleshless” was ‘Oh my God, this is awesome!’.

Speaking of “Blackened Soul”, it’s hot on the previous track’s toes. I don’t feel like I need to talk about this one too much, but I will say this – I love this track!

The riff in “Vortex of Disease” makes me smile, play air guitar and pull a stupid face. You know the face I mean… don’t pretend you don’t! It’s an embarrassing open-mouthed kinda thing… Listen to this track and I’m sure you’ll end up doing the same thing.

Whenever I listen to “Suppressing the Rage” I feel like it was written to be an ‘angry song’. Pissed off with someone? Listen to this song. Had a crap day at work? Listen to this song. Stubbed your toe on the door frame? Listen to this song. The way it builds up and then just explodes is amazing and really hits the spot. The calm and calculating verses really give your rage (I thought I’d copy their word!) the chance grow and florish into something huge, then the screaming and intense choruses give you the perfect opportunity to just let it all out. Marvellous! You don’t need Anger Management, you need this! It should be available on the NHS!

Spine Extraction often describe themselves as having an industrial side. Since, up until this point, I have only had the demo to base my judgements on, I couldn’t see where this was coming from. The short, yet atmospheric, sample-led “Evolution” shows what they mean and provides a great introduction into the next track.

“Shallow Grave” closes the album as I expected Spine Extraction to close the album – it’s loud, monstrous and dominating. It really showcases what the band is capable of and is a massively impressive track.

Once “Shallow Grave” finished (and before I’d pressed ‘play’ to listen to the album again) I remember thinking ‘was that it?’. The quality of the music on offer here is amazing, but being the greedy little so-and-so that I am, I wanted there to be more. I’m told that the band is already working on ideas for a follow-up, so I guess I won’t have to wait too long. And this debut should be enough to tide me over in the meantime!

As you’ve probably guessed, this album was definitely worth the wait and lived up to the hype that I’d forced upon it. It’s amazing that a relatively new band that’s not signed to a label has released this album. The production is mind-blowing, the musicianship top notch and the quality of the songs is ridiculously high.

Buy this album and get your friends to do the same!

Rating: 98.5%

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