Have you ever wondered how a combination of metalcore, Slipknot, and the nu metal stylings of Taproot would sound while recorded in a garbage can? Me neither. No disrespect to either of those bands (I have seen Taproot a few times and would again), but some musical stylings don’t work well and at times sound pretentious and contrived. The good news is that I’m going to review Death Assault’s debut, so you don’t have to.

In other words, you’re fucking welcome.

I’ll start by digging in on my Taproot reference regarding “We Will Remain.” It’s not a bad song by any stretch and even includes an extended guitar solo section. The clean vocals on it remind me quite a bit of Stephen Richards from Taproot, but there are also some harsh vocals which sound like the vocalist has gone hoarse (not horse, as that’s a completely different animal).

I want to back track a little and go to the first track, as I will never understand why an album begins with a brief intro, then the first song, in this case “Ashes of Reality,” also has an intro spanning nearly a minute. Back-to-back intros. The vocals are mostly screams with that half-talking/half-yelling vocal style popularized in the nu metal era with bands such as Spineshank. There’s a decent galloping riff in the background, but it’s not easy to discern.

On that note, I want to briefly mention the production. It sounds like butt garbage in my headphones, but it is much better coming through speakers. It’s still not great, so I refuse to take that leap.

Oddly enough, the production is not always a distraction. However, it is on “My Insanity.” To begin with, the vocals have an almost Marilyn Manson style. Once the riff starts around a minute in, the symbol crashing overtakes everything. That section repeats nearly a minute later, then a breakdown is teased for an unnecessary amount of time just to never happen, but there’s a guitar solo instead.

Before you get your JNCOs in a twist, it’s not as bad as I am making it seem, such as “Forgotten,” which starts with an isolated bass. The riff that comes in goes along with the bass, then we have some more Taproot-esque vocals. The borderline rap vocals fit very well when they appear. These dudes obviously have a considerable amount of talent and aren’t afraid to take chances, but reality takes over at some point.

The truth of that reality is this album is not for me. I had fun with nu metal back in the late 1990’s and early 2000s, and it truly was a gateway into heavier music. Perhaps Death Assault can be that band for others. I’m going to stop short of recommending it, but if you happen to hide your frosted tips under a red, backwards Yankees hat, give it a go. There’s no issue with doing it all for the “Nookie” sometimes.

[Visit the band's website]

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