Subliminal Crusher
Life Drought

July 2004
Released: 2004, Independent
Rating: 2.7/5
Reviewer: Waspman

Out of the land of spaghetti, pizza, and soccer comes a new death metal entity, bearing the name Subliminal Crusher. Formed in 2002, the band is relatively new to the game, and while this fact shows clearly enough, the band are also good enough to show some promise on this debut.

LIFE DROUGHT is basically old-school death metal, heavily influenced by both Swedish death metal and the band Death (the cover of “Pull the Plug” cements this nicely). The music is indeed powerful and appropriately brutal, but at this point there is just too much derivation in the music to push it above the average. Mind you, each song has its share of quality riffs, especially the intro, “Armageddon” and the following “Sense of Impotence” and “History”. After that, the music begins to sound repetitive and the band isn’t able to carry the momentum through for the full length of the disc. That said, this is still enjoyable in parts.

Subliminal Crusher (not the best name there guys) is still a young band so there is plenty of room for growth. This album has enough good ideas on it to warrant the band another look-see whenever they release their next album. Right now though, this is just for the most dedicated death-mongers.