'Nessun Urlo Nell'Ombra' is the debut demo from Italian death metal band Lacerater. They were formerly known as Lacerate, under which moniker they released 2 demos in 2003/2004, so these guys aren't exactly newcomers anymore.

... And this can be heard from good song structures which stick to a listener's brain. If you can't grab the fantastic opener 'O.S.S.A.' then you must be fucking deaf! Been listening to this for past three weeks or so and I'm trying to think of bands that I could compare Lacerater to, but I'm still empty-handed! Lacerater play brutal death metal, which is song-based, rather than being chaotic mess, even though there's a lot of tempo changes going on all the time. Well, almost all the time anyways. They blast, they do double kick drumming, they thrash, still I could continue for some time, believe me. One can hear influences from US death metal as well as from European stuff, and with a hint of grind. But generally I feel this is mostly based on old school death metal. Let's say that riff is the king for Lacerater and that's exactly how I like it. Vocals are varying from low grunting to growl screaming and whatever fits in between the two. I'm not willing to comment on lyrics, as they are all Italian. Even though you really wouldn't hear it, I presume...

What I like most about 'Nessun urlo nell'ombra' is how it sounds. It's all very organic, not triggered nor otherwise technologically mutilated, soulless death metal production. I love that flapping bass sound, bass being generally the element I miss on many a death metal (or metal album in general!!!) album. Guitars are shredding, drums are punchy. Listen L-O-U-D!!!

You can get a pro-printer version for 3 Euros, or you can download it for free with artwork included. The artwork itself is pretty eye-catching: Some larval stage thingies and pink color! Yep, you read it right, but don't take it as a hint, as Lacerated are definitely not gay! A good death metal demonstration which should lead to a record deal. If not, that would be really fucking unfair.

Reviewed by Lane
08/10/2007 19:49