”Hung Be The Heavens With Black is more than just a mission statement… Death Metal at its finest… A milestone of the genre… a must-have for any true fan of Death Metal…”. Some info sheets from labels give you an incentive to buy, some makes angry, some makes smiling. When listening to the release of THE CAUTERIZED all of this hits me.
The four guys from LA bring you enough old school Death Metal with a content Black Metal touch with this release. And to make Hung Be The Heavens With Black work for the crowd, the tempo goes in good old Morbid Angel manner from slow to blast. This seems interesting in the beginning, but what missing is the penetrating power in the songs. Songs like Embalmed At Birth, Machine, Witch Hammer or Corporate Meatgrinder sounds very promising, but they can only fulfill expectations conditionally. And so I catch myself after felt 15 minutes by questioning me, which song is playing at present. Vocalist and bass player Menno Verbaten with his retracted pitch of voice (placed in the middle) is one reason for this. Hung Be The Heavens With Black displays potentials so far, but it’s up to THE CAUTERIZED to develop and increase these potentials – the guys know how to master their instruments. One of the two axe-men seems to have Mustaine as an archetype, at least some Megadeth can be found in Suicide #9.
THE CAUTERIZED haven’t placed a milestone of the genre with this release. If it would be one, the must have argument come true. Collectors of old school Death Metal have their fun with this well produced output.