A review of Oxalate „Infatuating Sickness”

 

Oxalate

"Infatuating Sickness"

Dawnbreed Rec. 2022

This material is already equal to three years old, but I had the opportunity to get acquainted with it relatively recently, thanks to a cassette reissue under Dawnbreed Records flag. However, it's worth looking back sometimes, because even though "Infatuating Sickness" is only eleven minutes long, it's very worthwhile stuff. The band comes from the States and is by no means one of the exceptionally hard-working ones. This is evidenced by the fact that in addition to the EP in question, they have only recorded a “single” (call me old-fashioned, but I still haven't convinced myself to label single, only digitally released tracks, as an official release in the discography) and a split, for which they recorded one song. And it's a shame, because the content of "Infatuating Sickness" sounds very promising. The gentlemen play death metal. Massive, based on heavy riffs and frequent tempo changes. I don't mean that they juggle moods or play with technical convolutions, rather they very skillfully diversify their compositions, still keeping the spirit of the nineties in them above all. The opener of the whole, "Unwholesome Revelation," can be quite associated with New York's Suffocation, not only because of the structure of the guitar lines, but also quite similar to Frank's vocal manner and the timbre of the singer's voice. In other compositions we'll hear some shy echoes of Morbid Angel... It's the national traditions that most clearly shine through in all four Oxalate songs, and you can hear that the gentlemen didn't go truant at school. They can crush you with a powerful chord, only to speed up a bit in a moment or go into a strongly rhythmic passage, which makes you want to bang your head. You can hear that their instruments have been in their hands for a long time and their technical skills are at a high level. As a result, their recordings are a pleasure to listen to, and for some a red light of sentiment to their youth may go on in their heads. For not only are these recordings indeed at a high level, sounding like in the good old days, but the fact that they are released on cassette, a medium I personally grew up with, makes you suddenly feel as if you were younger. At least for a moment. But, as the classic sang, “there are only moments in life that are beautiful”. So it is probably worth reaching for this EP.

- jesusatan