"Parasitic Unborn EP" by Victims of Contagion

Victims of Contagion are the latest indie band to send me their album.

They self describe as a technical death metal band.

Again, we arrive to the horribly convoluted cross section of metal subgenres where just a tiny little difference means it's an entirely different kind of music.

Honestly, much of the time I can't even tell you what this or that means. Technical death metal, blackened death metal, death metal with a side of rye...I don't know.

They hail from the far off land of Pittsburgh, PA, a steel town. When we look back into the annals of metal, we remember that Black Sabbath formed in Birmingham, England. Good metal comes from steel towns where metal is quite literally in the air and your blood.

Victims of Contagion

There seems to be a trend growing in death metal. Long ago the types of Pete "Commando" Sandoval and others would often times play the same drum line in multiple songs and the albums would often feel like one 40 minute song...

Victims of Contagion want you to know for sure that they are not playing a single song, though their songs tend to be a bit on the long side. The 28 minute EP has 5 tunes on it.

The guitars are appropriately heavy. The rhythms thick and full, my only complaint there is that the rhythms tended to get a little trapped inside of the drumming. A tweak of the knobs would have sorted that out wonderfully.

Now, let's get to the technical aspect of the playing. The guitar solos on this EP are just mind blowing. Between the sweep picked arpeggios and pinched harmonics there are elements of jazz, folk, and more.

When is the last time you heard a jazz guitar solo in the middle of a brutal metal track? Well check out this EP and you won't be able to say never anymore!

The 28 minutes of this EP will keep you guessing and banging your head.

Release: 9/27/14
Genre: Death Metal
Label: DIY
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