The sick and depraved Belgian death metal scumbags that are Black Bleeding originally released this 5-track EP of theirs entitled The Awakening back in 2005, but Nihilistic Holocaust recently took it upon themselves to unearth and release the filthy thing on a proper CD and the result is quite decent albeit unremarkable.

Black Bleeding spew forth fast-paced, violent, and intense death metal that brings to mind some of the classic outfits from the Florida scene as well as acts such as Dementor, Behemoth, Asphyx, and Immolation. In other words, these fuckers prefer to keep things crushing and brutal, which is exactly what The Awakening is. The songs are neither overly technical or complex, but rather straight to the point and in-your-face. Having said that, Black Bleeding do manage to vary their song material by means of slow, crushing parts and different vocal styles and techniques. The ambient-like sections are also pretty cool. The tunes are all sufficiently intense and the production is suitably ugly and punchy, but while the tracks do have their moments, they are neither original nor innovative, which is to say that they bring nothing new to the table and they do not carve out any sense of identity for the group at all. Also, some of the riffs come across as derivative and uninspired. Still, the songs are not bad and they do strike a good balance between control and utter chaos, which is pretty neat.

The Awakening is a solid dose of malevolent death metal and it has its entertaining moments, but do not expect anything outstanding or brilliant here. Your record collection will be just fine without it. On the other hand, if violent and pummeling underground metal appeals to you, then give this sucker a spin. It might just do the trick for you.

 

http://nihilistic.shost.ca/