Dubai isn't a place exactly renowned for its death metal scene, and that Nervecell hail from this famously affluent corner of the UAE seems somehow curious. But then, why should it? There's disaffection and dissatisfaction in all corners of society, and the existence of Nervecell is simply indicative of the global appeal of metal. It might not be an easy thing to grasp: I mean, of all the genres to have a truly cross-cultural audience, to the extent that there are exponents to be found in the most unlikely places (if we hypothetically trace metal's origins to Black Sabbath in industrial Birmingham, which is as far from Dubai as you can get in every sense) it seems perverse that it should be metal – specifically metal of the harder, darker, thrashier persuasion. But perhaps that's just the point: metal articulates primal rage in a way that transcends language, and so most readily crosses all boundaries.
And so it is that Nervecell draw their influences from extreme metal acts like Morbid Angel, Deicide, Suffocation and Bolt Thrower, as well as from – according to the press material – 'classic metal bands, such as Pantera, Slayer, Testament, and Sepultura' to produce an album that features everything one might expect: impenetrable guttural vocals, frenetic guitars that grunt, chug, squeal and occasionally take flight on an arpeggiated widdlefest, accompanied by thumping bass atop drums that beat faster than insects' wings. The kick drums don't provide that solid bottom-end point of focus, but instead rattle away like a touch-typist's keys for lengthy sections of the album.
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Of course, complaining that 'Psychogenocide' doesn't really bring anything new to the genre is probably akin to bemoaning the fact that a Mills & Boon novel is a bit formulaic, and I daresay that if you live in Dubai, these guys are the most devastatingly thrilling band on the planet. Context is all. On 'Psychogenocide', Nervecell deliver everything they set out to, and with unstinting force and relentless power; abrasive, angry and technically faultless, it's all it's designed to be.
Nervecell Online
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