Brain Drill's full length debut, 'Apocalyptic Feasting' is fucking mind-blowing!! The Superhuman drumwork courtesy of Marco Pitruzzella is beyong belief, and the insane technical precision from both guitarist Dylan Ruskin, and Bassist Jeff Hughell is just as unbelievable. The lyrical content is the only thing that is typical of the genre, with the bulk of it relating to death, destruction, and the undead.
To their credit, the band manage to get somewhat socio-political on one track in particular, although the name of the track belies the actual content. "Forcefed Human Shit" might make one think that it's about something entirely grotesue, given the rest of the album's content. Instead, the song is an attack on the media, and politicians, and how they manipulate the stream of information that is passed on to the public. If their musicianship alone isn't enough to separate them from the rest, the bit of serious lyrical content is more than enough.
Not to be outdone, vocalist Steve Rathjen makes sure he does everything possible to add to the sonic maelstrom. While it's almost impossible to be wholly original in terms of death metal vocal tones, his vocal performance is nowhere near being a direct "clone" of any other vocalist in particular. His lows aren't so guttural that they're unintelligible (a la Suffocation), and his higher register screams don't reek of Dani Filth. And best of all, there isn't a single worthless "pig squeal" to be found on this album.
An album of this caliber is not going to be easy to contend with. Necrophagist might be one of the most technically proficient extreme bands out there today, but they're so focused on technicality and brutality, that the songs become nothing but parts, without a foundation to hold it all together. Therein is what separates Brain Drill from them, as well as the rest of their extreme metal peers.
If you were to take the best elements of Cannibal Corpse, Cryptopsy, and Psyopus, and throw them all into a blender, Brain Drill is what you'd end up with. Gore-infested lyrics, inhuman speed, mind-blowing technical precision, and the ability to write actual songs with solid foundations. Top that all off with a vocalist that's actually somewhat original and intelligible, and you're not far off from having one of the most impressive albums in extreme metal....period.
