BROKEN HOPE - REPULSIVE CONCEPTION (1995)
Let's head back to the states for Chicago's Broken Hope and their 3rd full length, Repulsive Conception. Broken Hope play east-coast style death metal: down-tuned guitars, guttural vocals, and intricate song structure. Starting with an almost gore-grind sound on their debut, they sound almost refined on their 1995 album.
Joe Ptacek is an awesome growler - very deep and ghoulish sounding, such a classic voice. Musically they are reminiscent of Butchered at Birth - era Cannibal Corpse. Low, chromatic, with plenty of blastbeats. The production is deep and meaty without being muddy. There is enough rawness so as not to feel over-produced, but you can still hear everything that is going on, even during the blasts.
Chewed to Stubs, Pit Bull Grin, and Engorged with Impiety are all excellent old school death metal tracks. There are a couple of throwaway instrumentals, and some filler but for the most part, the album is solid. Broken Hope were an uncompromising act - always staying true to their death metal roots and never diluting their sound. The band's previous album, The Bowels of Repugnance probably has the stronger songs on it, but I find myself turning to Repulsive Conception more often, and I think it's because of the vocal performance, it's just awesome. Oh, and the Twisted Sister cover? Brilliant. This gets a 3.5 out of 5.
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