Review of the 1998 Album Called "Cybergore" by Spanish Death Metal Band Avulsed
The Focus of This Article in 2019 and Beyond
Although the title of this written piece has constantly changed and evolved since 2016, let’s also shift back to calling it a review about this compilation album Cybergore.
The Members That Play In the Band Avulsed As of 2016
Here are the band members as of 2016 except the drummer:
David Sanchez Gonzalez: all vocals
Jose Maria De Miguel Orero: guitars
Juan Carlos Limon Calvo: guitars
Antonio Carlos Rodriguez Espigares: bass guitars
Note: the drummer on this album however is a different person. His name is Raul Fournier Diez.
Why is the album Cybergore so unique and special in the genre of death metal?
Vocalist David Sanchez Gonzalez has one of the roughest voices in the death metal genre and he is good at it! The band’s 1998 album Cybergore is an album filled with re-mixes of the band’s earlier material. This album is unique because it combines traditional death metal with techno beats. For those of you that think Cannibal Corpse or Deicide are good bands, Avulsed take that goodness to a different level! First comes a review of their compilation album called Cybergore. And hence, this is the first reason why heavy metal fans should listen to Avulsed.
About the Band Avulsed and Its Front Man David Sanchez Gonzalez
Spanish death metal band Avulsed has been playing heavy death metal with guttural style vocals since 1991. Why should heavy metal fans even pay attention to this VERY heavy Spanish death metal band from Madrid? The first reason why is because of the strong yet brutal vocals of David Sanchez Gonzalez. He also uses these low, bellowing kind of growls that can extend for several seconds.
The First Three Songs of the Album "Cybergore"
The opening song "Frozen Beat" starts out with some atmospheric sounds similar to what Sepultura did to open up their album called Arise. There is also some talking in the background but it can be hard to hear with the guitar and the drums playing. However, this song is nowhere near as good as Arise so let’s make that clear. After another solid song called "Addicted to Red Bull," we hear the song called "Sweet Bakalaotomy." This is perhaps the strongest song in the album because of the terrific riffs that are in it. Also, David shows his impressive vocal range as he holds that low growl for a really long time! There are some more weird sounds and Dave’s guttural growl lets you know that these guys are serious about playing heavy, hard-hitting death metal. The grunts of the words “frozen beat” by David are actually a sort of side benefit for this song because that vocal grunt actually fits in with the style of the song.
The song called "Frozen Beat"
Analysis of the Songs Hash Perversions & Powered Fish
"Hash Perversions" has some faster guitar playing and weird sounds. These weird sounds may annoy some music listeners though. And the song gets repetitive with the guitar playing and the weird sounds so I’m going to have to lower the score that I give this album because of that. Unlike melodic death metal bands such as Eternal Tears of Sorrow or Shadow, Avulsed focus on traditional death metal that is VERY heavy in nature. Even though the album may not have as much melody as a melodic death metal band, Avulsed do their style very well. I also wrote earlier that David would be very proud of the vocal job Tokiko Shimamoto of the band Shadow does. It is challenging enough for a man to do death metal vocals. But when a woman is able to do that with excellence that makes it even more impressive. "Powdered Fish" is perhaps the most melodic song on the album because the atmospheric sounds are infused with a different style of play than the other songs.
There is some really interesting exotic music style on this song and it is very fitting that the title of this album is Cybergore. The sound is very techno in nature so these guys combine gore metal with technologically advanced sounds.
How is the second half of the album Cybergore?
As the second half of the album begins the next song Petsuis Lobotomy sounds like a song that Avulsed would play on their next album. The guttural growls in this song sound like many of the songs on that album. Gorroneality has some screams in the song which detract from the quality of it. This is one of the weaker songs on the album anyway. Pastivoracity (Frozen Speed) is another one of the weaker songs on the album which has fast techno style guitar playing and weird sounds which make no sense. Beyond Monotony has some more techno style sounds a weird noise but no growling vocals from David. The last song is similar to what we would hear from this band on their next album.
"Addicted to Red Bull"
Additional Comments About the Album Cybergore
Note: on a website called Metal-Archives, users comment on and review metal albums and two users gave this Cybergore album a 5% score. I find that very hard to believe as I don’t think the album is so bad to deserve that kind of score. One user described this album as being like 50 minutes of torture! Ah what utter nonsense that kind of statement is. The album Cybergore is not your traditional death metal kind of album but so what? The fact that it is different does not mean it is bad. An open-minded listener of heavy metal will find a way to like this album.
"Sweet Bakalaotomy"
Final Thoughts About the Album Cybergore
Overall, Cybergore provides the listener with a unique death metal CD. It has guttural growls which are a great fit for this style of music. The strongest songs in this album are Frozen Beat, Addicted to Red Bull, Sweet Bakalaotomy, and Powered Fish. This album gets a total of 75 out of 100 points from this writer. I still recommend this album for its unique style. This album is certainly not bad but the band could have done better in making sure that some of the riffs were properly written. These guys are worth listening to because they are really talented!
This content reflects the personal opinions of the author. It is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and should not be substituted for impartial fact or advice in legal, political, or personal matters.
© 2016 Ara Vahanian