Halifax, Canada-based Uncooperative Death (what a name) play straight up 80s / crossover metal with the occasional -core and death/power metal reference. For some odd reason though, the promo sheet claims that the band should appeal to fans of Mastodon, Bullet For My Valentine, Lamb Of God, Cancer Bats and Trivium, which is quite a list, but there's so little metalcore / sludge / hardcore present on the album that I'm a little baffled over where the references are supposed to be coming from? Because for the most of the time, Uncooperative Death's approach to music can't be extended beyond anything else than just 'metal'.
There are a couple of fairly sweet guitar licks and it seems that the songwriting is approaching a stage where it can be said to be in order. A couple of songs have me nodding my head, impressing me with a solo or just an inventive main riff, but none of this matters though when the record's terrible production leaves the sound hollow and lacking a punch, consequently placing Uncooperative Death miles away from their inspirations. This also leads to the clean vocals sounding weak and, I'm tempted to say, rather stupid alongside the otherwise meaty and sharp riffing. The yells/screams/whatever don't make a strong effect either for the same reasons. On the positive side of things, however, the bass guitar has been left strong in the mix, causing its thumping rhythm to act as one of the highlights on "Chew The Leg Off", for example. On most songs, it's actually possible to follow the bass-line living a life of its own while the two axemen wield away on the fretboards. That has become a bit of a rarity in guitar-driven metal these days so it's a refreshing change to hear a different approach for the instrument.
Although Uncooperative Death are somewhat original in that I can't think of another band who sounds just like them, the record has way too many problems that need solving before it can/will make an impact on the metal scene. The poor production is the first one that needs (lots of) working on, and the Bullet For My Valentine-style whiny clean vocals need to be MUCH better if they are to be used on future releases. I'm not that fond of the gruff yells either, but pretty much all of this can be attributed to the lack of production in the mix overall. For now, I can't rate this much higher for the reasons mentioned above.
[4]
Download: Solanum, Chew The Leg Off
For the fans of: Exciter, 3 Inches Of Blood, Municipal Waste
Listen: Myspace
Release date 19.05.2009
Chew The Leg Off Records
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