Time Signature In the abyss of time...

Genre: death metal

Comprising members who are very much veterans on the Chilean death metal scene, Nar Mattaru's "Enuma Elish" is, while a debut album, marked neither by naivete nor a lack of direction. In other words, they know exactly what they are doing on this album.

Stylistically, Nar Mattaru embrace the old school death metal sound of the early 1990s, and, while there are some death-grind elements every now and then in the form of some blastbeats accompanying death metal style riffage, fans of modern death metal might not find much to satisfy their thirst for tech pig squeal-filled brutality. But, if you like stuff like Autopsy, old Morbid Angel, mid 90s Napalm Death and that type of music, then "Enuma Elish" is the way to go (hell, it even features three cover versions of 90s death metal classic including songs by Incantation and Autopsy).

The vocals are guttural, but are accompanied by what sounds like the tortured screams of madmen every now and then, which creates an almost occult-ish feel. While I like the primitiveness of old school death metal, I think that some of the songs on this album are a bit too long for their own good - I mean nine minutes of old school riffage does become slightly monotonous in the long run to my ears.

The production is very fuzzy and nearly lo-fi, but, given the band members' many years of experience, this is not the result of lack of competence. Chances are that Nar Mattaru have deliberately aimed at capturing the fuzzy sound of 90s death metal - and mission accomplished I must say. It will probably take a listen or two to get used to the sound, but, if you were around back in the say, it might even click with you at first listen.

Fans of old school death metal should, in any case, check this one out.