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░ ██ ██ Artist: Sad Eyes ██ ██
▓ █░░ ■█ Album: 9H0B1A █■ ░░█
■ █▓▀ █ Year: 2013 █ ▀▓█ ░
█ ▓ Rel. Date: 2013-08-24 ▓ █
▒ ▒ Genre: Death Metal ▒ ▒
█▄ ░ Label: Razed Soul Productions ░ ▄█
░ █▄ ░ Source: CD ░ ▄█
░ █▓ Type: Album ▓█ ░
▓ █ Quality: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo █ ░ ▓
▓ █ █ ░ ▓
▄ ■ ■ ▓ ■
░█ █░ ▀
█ Sad Eyes is a Spanish death metal outfit that █
█ leans on the more technical side of things, and █
█ that's perfectly fine by me. Luckily for the █
█ Spanish gentleman, the only gripe I have with the █
█ subject of this review is that the songs all sound █
█ like some twelve-year-old's first clan tag on Call █
█ of Doodie. Yeah, I said "gentleman": I should also █
█ mention that Sad Eyes is basically a solo effort. █
█ It's one man - Santi Gzlez - getting other Spanish █
█ metal artists to lend him a hand here and there. █
█ His latest effort, "9H0B1A", is a strangely-titled █
█ but extraordinarily-solid sophomore album that █
█ everyone who fancies them a death metal fan should █
█ check out. It's got all the elements that make the █
█ genre so great: vicious vocals, spectacular solos, █
█ dominating drumwork, and extraordinario riffage. █
█ Yeah, the alliteration fell apart at the end. Sue █
█ me. █
█ Arguably the best part about "9H0B1A" is the █
█ vocal-work. Without exception, every song on the █
█ record is made enjoyable to listen to as a direct █
█ result of the two session vocalists, Kike Capilla █
█ and Carlos Mejias. I don't know who did what, but █
█ the higher screams serve their function to █
█ perfectly juxtapose the lower death grunts, and █
█ these two opposing vocal styles work in tandem █
█ with one another to create an addictive and █
█ desirable sound instead of clashing horribly like █
█ you might expect they would. Honestly, some of it █
█ sounds an awful lot like technical death metal █
█ giants Origin, and that's a compliment in my book █
█ (especially since it doesn't sound like they just █
█ copy-pasted the sound of that band). Fantastic █
█ work by the vocalists is something I wish I heard █
█ more often, and "9H0B1A" delivers this experience █
█ aptly. I applaud thee, dual vocalists, and can █
█ only hope that you can read this review and █
█ applaud yourselves for your efforts. Buen trabajo! █
█ This is probably a good time to say that all my █
█ espa±ol is coming from Google translate. That's █
█ how things roll when you don't speak the language. █
█ While I'm completely unfamiliar with Spanish, █
█ however, Santi Gzlez is a very skilled guitarist, █
█ showing exceptional familiarity with his █
█ instrument and knowing exactly what to do to keep █
█ things interesting throughout most of this █
█ record's running time. He has the █
█ somewhat-stereotypical technical riffing in there, █
█ as well as a fret-traveling composition of high █
█ and low chords that punctuate the more powerful █
█ parts of the album. "9H0B1A" also benefits from █
█ several other talented guitarists, as I count all █
█ of TEN session musicians who submitted solos for █
█ this project. Guess what? They all sound fuckin' █
█ killer. That's some serious guitarwork, boys, and █
█ while the brilliant solos steal the spotlight for █
█ a while, you have Glzez's exceptional death metal █
█ riffing to go back to when their running time █
█ ends. All in all, my ears enjoyed, so I give the █
█ guitarwork and basswork of the album my █
█ traditional seal of approval - and let everyone █
█ know how awesome they are, of course. █
█ So, I mentioned that the drums reportedly █
█ dominate. Do they? Well, I said it, so it's █
█ probably true. What Glzez does right with the drum █
█ tracks is the simple act of knowing his strengths. █
█ He doesn't try to take the stage with his drumming █
█ alone, but rather lets the drum fills act as the █
█ stage crew, providing the foundation for the stars █
█ (be they the vocals or the solos) to... I dunno, █
█ shine or something. Broken analogy aside, the █
█ drumwork - a fine mix of blast beats, up-fills and █
█ down-fills, and some serious legwork on the pedals █
█ - dominate the backdrop of the album, pummeling █
█ your ears alongside the guitarwork, the solos, and █
█ the vocals. Listen to "0D1N0" (hey, that's almost █
█ Odin! Nice job, but you spelled it wrong) - it █
█ basically sums all that up in four and a half █
█ minutes. What it comes down to is that with all █
█ these elements - the drums, the solos, the vocals, █
█ the basswork, the guitarwork - Santi Glzez and his █
█ band of aficionados have managed to create █
█ something of a technical death metal masterpiece █
█ with the thirty-nine minute-long "9H0B1A", and it █
█ deserves the treatment of a review. Just tell the █
█ poor feller that I'm sorry it took so long. He █
█ sent me the damn promo about half a year ago. █
▓ ▓
▒ ▒
░ 1. 53L3N0 3:57 ░
░ 2. H3D3N0 4:15 ░
░ 3. 391573M0 4:44 ░
░ 4. A9H3N9H05 4:19 ░
░ 5. AU70 3:42 ░
░ 6. N1K3 4:30 ░
░ 7. 0D1N0 4:24 ░
░ 8. 50MN1 4:42 ░
░ 9. FR0N3M0 4:41 ░
░ 39:14 ░
░ ▒ ▒
▓ █ ░ ▓ ░
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