Secretion
"Reborn"
(World Class Tapes) 

Christian death metal! And just when I thought I'd seen everything! Eat your hearts out, Stryper! This band is a duo, consisting of guitarist/vocalist Shawn and drummer Dax. Before I review this, I would like to say that I mean no offense to anyone, or their religious beliefs or musical tastes. I have nothing against Christians, death metal, or Christians who play death metal. However, I have to give my honest opinion here, and my honest opinion is that this is bloody awful! Shawn's "singing" sounds like he's burping his way through the whole album, and it's nearly impossible to understand a word he says; the playing is terrible, Shawn torturing his guitar with sub-par death metal riffs that sound out of tune, and Dax's drumming sounds like he's pounding on a trash can lid; and it sounds like it was recorded in a basement. The whole thing is just one big sloppy cacophony (Cacophony for Christ! That's a good one!). These two do sound like they're giving it their all and they deserve credit for that, but they really need some more work, in a big way! If you're going to play for Christ, learn how to play first! Perhaps the problem with this duo is just that-there's only two of them. They might do better if they added more members to the fold. Unless Shawn can do better, someone else should definitely handle vocal duties! It wouldn't hurt to add a bassist, either, and perhaps another guitarist. They couldn't do any worse, that's for sure. The do dedicate the album to the memory of Chuck Schuldiner, so they deserve props for that, but that's the only thing I can give them props for. These guys being Christians, they should do some hard praying, because they could use the help of a higher power to improve their musical skills!

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