COLCOCLEISIS hailing from Liverpool, UK were formed in 2014. They are a Slam/brutal Death Metal band and so far, they released two demos, one EP and a full-length album. Their sophomore album "Elegant Degradation" was mixed and mastered by Ryo at Insidious Soundlab, and the album has a length of about 28 minutes. It was released via Ukrainian label RealityFade Records, which is specialized in Death Metal, Slam, and Deathcore. There is no official video release yet.

The album starts with the intro "Degrade", which is driven by an 80 second thunderous riffing at down-tempo transitioning into "Discumblobulated" continuing with the sound of the intro. It is a mixture of a mid-tempo and a down-tempo track with powerful riffing and crunching bass lines. The vocals are growls at the low end of the guttural range and they are, typically for the genre, distorted. The drumming includes a lot of double-bass drumming. "Six Feet Chunder" does not sound a lot different, it continues with the same tempo and rhythm and the riffing, drumming, and the vocals do not differ from the previous track. "Toxoplasmosis" starts with a short intro, before aggressive riffing takes over. The beginning of "Toxoplasmosis" comes with a lot of pace and aggression; however, it does not take long until the track goes back to the usual down-tempo pattern with the familiar riffing, drumming, and vocals.

"Evangenital Obliteration" is the first of a few songs that add guest vocalists. Here there are Mat Davies and Jake Gamble of CAPITAL PUNISHMENT are contributing to the track. "Evangenital Obliteration" has a crazy and fast start driven by the blast-beats, but transitions quickly to the typical album pace with plenty of down-tempo parts. Both guest vocalists add a bit versatility to the Slam vocals of Jon Burr. The riffing is very powerful and has a lot of Deathcore vibes. "Flagellating At The Slab" starts with an extended intro and then transitions into a fast, blast-beat driven part. The song is less monotonous compared to most tracks on the album as there are a lot of breaks and distortions in rhythm and pace. The riffing and drumming is more versatile than most tracks on the album and this makes "Flagellating At The Slab" standing out from most other tracks. "ProlapsoVaginal" is one of the shortest album tracks with around 70 seconds and is also one of the least memorable songs on "Elegant Degradation".

"Third Degree Gurns" is the second track which includes a guest contribution. Chris Butterworth (CREPITATION; KASTRATED) joins the vocals alongside Jon Burr. The track is one of the best of the album with a lot of tempo and rhythm changes, ranging from blistering pace to down-tempo parts. Chris Butterworth's contribution is short, but significant as his added squeals add an extra layer to the song. "Corpocleisis" is the third song with a guest vocalist. Neil Hudson (KRYSTHLA) adds deep-lying growls to the mix which fit very well to those of Jon Burr. In terms of the sound, "Corpocleisis" follows the common album patterns with a few more Deathcore vibes added. "Do Not Resuscitate" starts with the inevitable intro and then the track goes straight into the all-familiar territory of down-tempo Slam. There are a few rhythm twists and tonal shifts in the vocals which makes "Do Not Resuscitate" a bit more interesting to listen too. The album finishes with "Decay" and this a short end with a bang.

"Elegant Degradation" leaves me with mixed feelings as I believe that good Slam can sound very different. My main criticism is the monotony of almost the entire album in terms of riffing, pace, vocals, and drumming. "Elegant Degradation" sounds like a "if you know one song, you know them all" album to me, which is a bit unfortunate. The production of the album is okay. COLCOCLEISIS deliver an album which a few Slam fans may dig, however, I see a lot of potential for improvement for future albums.Purchase Link:

https://colpocleisis.bandcamp.com/album/elegant-degradation