“Broken Hope” Mutilated and Assimilated CD REVIEW by Dillon Collins
Through triumph and tragedy, Broken Hope remain as one of the kings of mid-western U.S. death metal.
After bursting onto the scene in 1988 and stamping their claim on the scene with the aggressive Swamped in Gore, the band carried on with a string of solid records until they disbanded in 2002.
Following the tragic suicide of original vocalist Joe Ptacek in 2010, the idea of a reformation for Broken Hope was thrown into purgatory in the minds of many fans, though perhaps unthinkably band patriarch Jeremy Wagner revived the project in 2012.
Today Broken Hope consists of Wagner (rhythm guitar), drummer Mike Miczek, bassist Diego Soria, ec-Chimara lead guitarist Matt Szlachta and new vocalist Damian Leski. The band is primed and ready to shred heads and crack skulls with heir latest sinful offering, and their seventh studio album overall, Mutilated and Assimilated, which arrives June 23rd through Century Media Records.
The album kicks off in bruising fashion with the appropriately named The Meek Shall Inherit Shit, which further spotlights Leski’s ability to reach a guttural growl unlike few of his contemporaries which he previously showcased in the bands 2013 comeback record Omen of Disease.
The intensity ramps up with the aggressive war themed sophomore track The Bunker, a frenzied chest grabber of a track which perfectly sets the tone for the albums self-titled single Mutilated and Assimilated, the bands homage to the legendary John Carpenter horror masterpiece The Thing.
Anchored on the backdrop of the unfolding monster epic amidst the Arctic ice and snow, the grinding eerie guitar-work yields way to ramped up intensity in the songs midpoint, before the final third of the track allows Szlachta to unleash a ferocious string of solos fit for a blood soaked film climax.
The remaining nine tracks carry on just about as you can expect from some of death metals most seasoned veterans, with plenty of savagery to appease to diehard fans and new listeners.
Choice cuts include the from zero to 60 eerie romp Hell’s Handpuppets, the riff heavy The Necropants and the guttural vocal triumph of Russian Sleep Experiment.
Above all else Mutilated and Assimilated ensures Broken Hope fans that there is no resting on laurels and that the death metal maestros are still firing, furiously, on all cylinders.
For more information on Broken Hope visit http://www.brokenhope.com. Mutilated and Assimilated will be released in physical and digital formats on June 23rd.
Dillon Collins / MHF Magazine
