Hailing from Indonesia, DEMENTED HEART is a technical death metal band that tries hard to feed off a contemptuous disdain for humanity and attempts to fill its heart to the brim with hate, hate, and more hate. The quartet has been around since 2007, with only an EP and a full-length to its name prior to the most recent release, "Frantic Epidemic", a nine-track offering and one that will likely be quite divisive amongst the tech-death realms, and not forgettable enough for me. This is a true 'Marmite' record indeed, and I've never been partial to yeast extract, or a fan of anything yeasty for that fact.

From the off, the display of technical peacock feathers spread with the title-track bringing the hammer down with a swirl of blasts and swarm of guitar passages, breaking into some very one-dimensional vocals. It's certainly a confident - if overweening - intro, although where "Frantic Epidemic" finishes, its instrumentals bleed into "Severe Disease", a common theme that repeats throughout the full-length. Where does one track start and another finish? Who knows; perhaps this is all part of the 'demented' experience.

Despite a barrage of technicality, "Incitement to Violence" is another depthless slab of bro flexing with far too much going on and little substance. And where the record seems to shift into something less fanciful, "Terror and Destruction" provides as much atmosphere and life as a mortuary drawer, and "Impact of Chaos" is nothing more than convoluted emptiness. "Abnormal Funeral" would have potential for being a stronger addition to the record since a few riffs make an appearance, if only it wasn't for the lyrical complexity of something derived from Simple Jack's vocabulary: "How far can this stench/Smell from deep in the grave/A dark atmosphere filled with/The stench of cadaverine". And if the repetitive playground lyrics don't make your teeth itch, the fact a track has been penned "Territoral Invasion" (I swear I had an aneurysm having to write that) will make you feel like you're dealing with an infestation of scabies. So, is there a highlight on this record? Well actually there is: the solo on "Population Decline", not least because it was short, clean, and audible, but also, because I knew that this hideous experience was soon coming to an end.

For all its evil misanthropic potential, there's a complete lack of profundity to the thematic of this album and too much instrumental wankery (I can make up words, too). With vocals devoid of cadence, instrumentals that feel like nothing more than a chipolata sized cock-measuring contest, and with more weight in a mouse fart, "Frantic Epidemic" is a release I'll remember for all the wrong reasons. I've had more enjoyable bouts of thrush.