Album Review: Laceration - I Erode
Reviewed by Sam Jones
Upon seeing that Laceration would have a new album out, I was stoked. Formed in 2006 out of California, United States, the band have had numerous breakups and reunions for their earlier years are peppered with EPs, Demos, a Split, a Compilation etc, however following their revival a few years ago is where Laceration are now. Releasing a 2020 Demo was soon succeeded by, at long last, their first full length record titled Demise. I remember really enjoying Demise upon hearing it and, recently, when I heard Laceration would return with another album, I knew I had to seize it should the opportunity arise. Slated for a July 26th release date and having signed on to the illustrious 20 Buck Spin, I Erode shall hopefully establish a new chapter for Laceration as they continue persevering in the name of heavy metal. I was very excited to say the least.
Hey, do you like bass? That’s good because Laceration bring that in droves here, for the first major thing they hit you with is this tsunami of bass not merely from the instrument but the mix as a whole. It’s evident the band wanted to craft a pretty suffocating atmosphere for the first real track on record, “Excised”, is a firm introduction as per what we can expect from the rest of the band’s performance. The bass is thoroughly commanding as it keeps your senses glued at all times to every twist and development the songwriting puts you through. I also enjoyed how you can really listen closely to the smaller minutiae like the individual strings plucked, and the basslines given their own space to breathe on what is an already busy record, within the mix. As a result, though the album may initially strike us ad all-encompassing, further listening soon reveals our capacity to breathe on our own terms even when the band are battering us on all sides.
It must be said that the band’s choice for production, as detailed prior, also brings our attention round to the riffs. When you’ve got a guitar presence that’s effectively outlining every turn of the bass and riffs, it ensures you’re going to pay attention to each second the band are playing for. That comes in handy here since, while the band’s bass is massive, their riffs sway back and forth between the bulkier, chunky variant and a much thinner, visceral style that’s far more piercing than your typical thrash/death metal release. But it was necessary on such an album like this, for had the guitar work been just as cavernous then the impact of the riffs and basslines equally would have been considerably hindered, and the band’s ability to convey the maximum effect of their soundscape heartily reduced. Therefore, the thinner, razor-edged riff delivery isn’t merely stylistic but a vital technical choice.
The songwriting is very interesting as, while Laceration don’t stop for anything and don’t include tracks that are too varied in aesthetic or flow, the riffs and track progression are always on the move and, more importantly, are rarely the same sounding segment than they were beforehand. When the band are playing, and you feel like you’ve reached the apex of that certain track’s progression, they’ll throw you a curveball and take their songwriting into a complete ninety degree direction than you thought they would do. It’s not so much unpredictable as it is genuinely surprising what Laceration can do within a relatively confined space which they themselves have built. It demonstrates real ability to move round with riffs that arguably don’t need to change things up much for the track they’re playing to still evoke and keep audiences engaged. The band know what you like, they enjoy it themselves, but understand something still needs to happen for the full record to maintain our engagement. It’s a very clever release.
This is one of those records where you can’t imagine the vocal performance to be anything other than what their frontman, Luke Cazares, is able to throw out. The band’s general aesthetic is deeply rooted in retro death metal, particularly delving into that early 90s era, and his vocals, vast and bellowing, champion that sound to the maximum. It’s not overly powerful that you feel like he’s having to especially exert himself to be heard or is in conflict with the instrumentation; the mix excellent balances the two forces in tandem, which is certainly impressive considering the huge mass the band are always placing on your senses at any given moment. One can imagine the band on stage, and their vocalist up there, and the perfect synergy shared by all as the band coalesces into one collective output. It doesn’t try to be too quick either, as the vocal tempo is perfectly matched with the pacing the riffs are flying with as well. If the vocals had tried to be faster; it would have misshapen the flow of the band’s performance and created something unnecessarily unbalanced. There’s great discipline and control thrown into these vocals.
In conclusion, Laceration’s I Erode is a record that holds little back and is surprisingly swift in its runtime. Though the band beat us over the head with a crushing soundscape, and riffs that are always on the cusp of developing into something new, the record doesn’t overstay its welcome. Written and performed in the vein of 90s death metal, I Erode is a beast of an album that delivers the hammer blows early on its runtime and then refuses to cease doing so until every track has had its due. I was happily surprised to see the band would have another album out in the near future for their Demise record, a long time in the making, was a quality release and therefore I’m glad to see the band have follows that up in good time. I think they’re currently an underrated band and more people should check them out. Give this a listen and you’ll find yourselves fully on board with Laceration.
