Music: Uncooperative Death: Uncooperative Death

Our Take

I’m sure I’ve said this at some point before, but never judge a band solely by the name that they have chosen for themselves. Take Canada’s Uncooperative Death for example. By their name alone, you would assume that they were a death metal or metalcore act but one listen to their self titled debut will prove that is not the case. The group is actually an old school sounding thrash metal act that has some melodic hard rock and punk mixed in for good measure, and though there are a few minor elements that need improvement these guys are off to a great start.

After a very haunting and creepy introduction that features some sound clips, Uncooperative Death launches into some old school sounding thrash. The instrumentalists have clearly studied some of the great 80’s thrash groups, as their dual guitar attack fits right in with many of the classics and offers listeners some catchy riffs and great solos. There are a few quirks here and there (such as times where the solos start off great but get a little shaky by the end), but despite this most listeners are sure to find that these instrumentalists have what it takes. Rather than being a straightforward retro thrash act, Uncooperative Death also pulls from some punk and hard rock influences at times as well, and the two included bonus tracks also hint at some more melodically oriented material. The instrumentalists definitely give listeners a lot to like, and this does help the band as a whole stand out.

Although quite a few thrash metal groups tend to only use screaming, Uncooperative Death has attempted to use both screaming and clean vocals throughout the course of their debut album. The screaming sounds a little closer to that of a metalcore vocalist at times, but there are some moments where the vocals become closer to that of a traditional thrash band. It works quite well though and is able to offer a great amount of energy for the entire disc. Unfortunately, the same can’t always be said of the clean vocals. On some of the tracks the singing is spot on and fits perfectly, but at times it goes slightly out of tune and doesn’t work quite as well. I’m not sure if this means that the group has different vocalists performing at different times and one of them just isn’t as good or not, but this is the one area that could use a bit of improvement. It’s not a deal breaker though, but it would certainly help the band out if they fix this.

Despite the issue with the clean vocals and the occasional instrumental quirks, I’m still rather fond of this release. It’s an impressive debut from a band that seems to understand the thrash genre better than some of the other young newcomers out there, and with a little more fine tuning I expect these guys to go far. If you’re looking for some more decent thrash and don’t mind a little bit of outside influence from other genres, consider giving Uncooperative Death a go.

http://www.uncooperativedeath.com

Chris Dahlberg
June 04, 2009