Suffocation used to be the staple for brutal/technical death metal, and it's pretty easy to see their influence throughout Severed Savior's discography. However if you've listened to Severed Savior's aptly-titled Brutality Is The Law, which I quite enjoyed, then you might be disappointed with what you hear on Servile Insurrection. Sweep-picking, brutal riffs, Suffocation-esque vocals, plenty of neocIassical solos, some dissonance, and a few random jazz sections, what's not to like? It's missing some of that essential brutality. This seems to be the trend in most technical death and especially with Californian technical death metal.
That's not to say Servile Insurrection is lacking any quality brutal moments. The intro track "Question" and "Inverted And Inserted" really bring the brutality. There's also an interesting transition about halfway through the album where the listener is treated to a 57 second instrumental track followed by a 50 second acoustic track. It's a welcome break from the fierceness of the previous tracks and sets the mood for the latter half of Servile Insurrection. "Acts Of Sedition" is Severed Savior at their fastest and "Spoils Of War" is Severed Savior at their catchiest. These last few tracks are memorable despite the album having that feel of "been there done that."
I should be giving this a more careful listen, but after quite a few spins I just don't hear what separates Severed Savior from the rest of the Californian tech death scene. Perhaps it's their brutality on the previous release, or perhaps it's the overbearing influence of their music on other artists, but whatever makes Severed Savior special sure as hell didn't make Servile Insurrection stand out in the slightest.
7.25 out of 10
Tracklisting:
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