Splattered Entrails - "Nauseate"
August 9, 2011
Producer: Mike O'Hara
One man bands are something in the world of extreme metal that get a lot of the time frowned upon. Some of these reasons include: The guitarist involved often repeats himself for the length of the record. The songs on top of sounding the same have no foundation or structure. Finally, the drum programming is a lot of the times lifeless, robotic sounding furthermore replacing groove and feel with only speed and intensity. Not a good trade off at all.
Late last year I came across the band Splattered Entrails and was completely blown away, this Death Metal band had it all: Speed, Groove, Brutality and most importantly Foundation. It came to me as a great shock when I learned that Splattered Entrails was a one-man Death Metal Machine created by guitarist/vocalist Mike O'Hara. The album in question you ask? Is his debut full-length record: 2011's "Nauseate".
Grabbing my attention right away was Mike's very strong sense of groove. While there are some extremely fast tunes on this record, Mike proves time and time again that you don't always have to play 280BPM's to write and perform Death Metal. He showcases this rather well in the album's opening and closing tracks respectfully: "Rewriting Human Genetics" and "Eliminating The Substructure", which are both instrumental pieces that show groove and feel are just as if not more important than speed and intensity.
Upon listening to this album several times, another thing I really noticed about Mike's playing style is his ability in writing riffs that feature built-in melodic hooks. Some tunes where this really stands out are: "Bathyspheric Claustrophobia", "Humans: Deprogrammed" and my favorite song off this record "Compound 19". I list this as significant because with Splattered Entrails being a Brutal Death Metal project, it's normally atypical for bands of this sub-genre to play around with melodic hooks. As most bands in this specific sub-genre when it comes to writing hooks tend to favor atonal and chaotic lead sections. Which is why in my opinion Mike O'Hara has something very special going with Splattered Entrails.
As I said earlier when I learned Splattered Entrails was a one-man project I was really stunned. A good portion of that reason was the incredible drum-programming that takes place on this record. There is nothing on this album that sounds robotic or alien-like, the drums groove with life and for the most part sound extremely organic (omitting one passage in the still amazing song "Buried In Cement"). What impressed me the most is Mike's drummer instincts despite the guitar being his main instrument, and the fact he programmed this entire record without the assistance of another sticks-man for guidance or suggestions.
Mike, who plays drums as his second instrument, obviously had an advantage when programming this record. However, many other one-man bands should take note and learn from "Nauseate". The higher your knowledge of drums, the better chances your record will become a success. Guitars are only have the equation, if your drums lack groove, feel and sound extraterrestrial the chances of your album becoming successful start to become nil.
"Nauseate" is 35-minute Brutal Death Metal assault divided up into 10 tracks for your auditory pleasures. Each tune is heavy, tight and will blow your head off after every listen. This album easily made my top list of 2011. Mike has stated that he already has enough material written for two more albums. It will be very interesting to see how much he improves with each record. We can only hope that the second Splattered Entrails record will see the light of day before the end of 2012.
If you don't own "Nauseate" you should be disgusted by the thought, this record destroys everything in it's path. Mike O'Hara and Splattered Entrails are one of the first Brutal Death bands in quite some time to breathe some new life and spark some new imagination into this amazing genre of music. Be on the lookout - Splattered Entrails is going to roll some heads in the years to come.
My Killer Kutz: "Compound 19", "Buried In Cement" and "Swarm of Virulence"
