CoC : Charnel House - Sample of Murder : Review

Charnel House - _Sample of Murder_
(Independent, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley (4 out of 10)

There are several reasons why I am not getting too much out of the death metal groove of New York act Charnel House. One of the reasons is the really poor production of their material here. While the production does capture the raw stomp of their death metal grooves effectively, better production would no doubt raise their sound to a much more palatable level for what they are trying to convey with their music. The second reason is the vocals/lyrics. The lyrics sound too cheesy, too cliche. Songs about murder and crushing skulls are sung with such a boring death metal snarl that it is just oh so wrong for Charnel House and the music they play. They sound like a bar band trying to play death metal music. I know the band is getting ready to release their twelve-song _From Birth to Burial_ and I can only hope they got a better producer and kind of cleaned "House" so that their next attempt at providing music to the masses will be much more acceptable. My fingers are crossed.

Contact: P.O. Box 570677, Whitestone, NY 11357, USA

(article published 13/5/2001)