CoC : The Berzerker - Dissimulate : Review

The Berzerker - _Dissimulate_
(Earache Records, 2002)
by: Xander Hoose (7.5 out of 10)

The premise of The Berzerker's music has always been quite promising: mixing Carcass-era grindcore with gabber beats to create one of the heaviest forms of music, making you shit your pants and bashing your brains to a bloody pulp. But unfortunately, The Berzerker's first album didn't quite deliver the blows it was supposed to deal out. Sure, it was heavy, but most of the songs lacked structure of any sorts. Thankfully, with _Dissimulate_ they have taken care of these flaws and it results in fourteen songs of mindblowing aggression and intensity. Even though the gabber beats are still present, they have been pushed a little more to the background, replacing traditional drumming, while the rest of the music comes from the traditional instruments (guitar, bass and vocals). This time around the Carcass influence is undeniable, with the gory vocal style and grinding guitar riffs. Most songs clock around two minutes, preventing too much repetition, while the usage of samples has been brought back to a minimum. A Carcass cover song can also be found, as The Berzerker provide a technoid cover of "Corporal Jigsaw Quandary". Even though this album runs for only a little more than 30 minutes, there's a downside to this sonic slaughter: songs tend to lose their identity and are somewhat interchangeable during the run of the album. Nonetheless, _Dissimulate_ is an album that will easily satisfy the basic urges of the more open-minded death metal and grindcore fans.

(article published 1/9/2002)

ALBUMS
5/25/2000	P Schwarz	6	The Berzerker - The Berzerker