Heretic Soul - Born into This Plague
Rotting Corpse Records
Deathcore
9 songs (36'07")
Release year: 2010
Reviewed by Alex

For the lack of a better idea ‘crossroads’ is going to be the theme of my review for Turkish Heretic Soul. Turkey as a country always intrigued me, as they stand on the crossroads between Europe and Asia, between West and East, between Islam and secularism. Turns out the country has a burgeoning metal scene, with some of the buds trying to break through on the extreme side of things.

Heretic Soul is one such band and they happen to occupy just the crossroads between 90s death metal worship and modern fascination with all things mosh. Just as I admire Turkey’s ability to democratically govern itself into the free world, I applaud Heretic Soul for their ability to compose simply constructed songs with passion and immediate catchiness factor. And just like many Turks would admit there are quite a few issues to be addressed before the country reaches its full potential, Heretic Soul drags some oh-so-familiar overused, but what they seem to think obligatory, breakdowns into the mix. Brutal death metal USDM school and Bolt Thrower style meet pummeling deathcore, fat guitar strings coaxed to emit chug and squeal sounds meet vicious, but predictable, breakdowns damaging to necks and knees of those in attendance. If Kataklysm were ever to embark on the tour of Turkey, Heretic Soul is just the band they need to open up for them and show them the towns and stages to visit.

Hitting hard, with almost Max Duhamel blast-speed, Born into This Plague comes in straight at you with a number of familiar grooves, proud of its downtuned slamming barrage. Not technically overwhelming, but very workmanlike, I sense the band’s honesty about their roots and their desire to hook a pit dweller even if at the expense of originality. Drummer Erhan Karaca is quite capable and singer/guitarist Sarp Keski screams his guts out, even if in rather monochromatic fashion. At times he raises his voice in a bout of hysteria (Faceless), and piercing blackened melody is allowed to peer through (Worship Me). On some tunes, having had both of their death metal (Suffocation and Morbid Angel) and deathcore (Hatebreed) bases covered, Heretic Soul express their emotions via brooding clean intro (Beyond Hatred) or pronounced tremolo lead (Deadliest Enemy).

Even if they haven’t completely figured out what their next step should be, even if they are caught between their influences and their desires to match modern brutality standards, Heretic Soul seem to pour it from the soul indeed. And that is what gave Born into This Plague its charm, even if the riffs could have used some honing. It is not clear to me what direction Heretic Soul would be moving in from this crossroads, but the fact they will not be standing still is a fact.

Killing Songs :
Deadliest Enemy, Beyond Hatred
Alex quoted 74 / 100
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