After a three track demo in 2016 Canadian Death/Thrash trio BackStabber are ready to unleash their debut full length, the independently released “Conspiracy Theorist” a fast and fierce ten track offering spanning a compact but well filled thirty-two minutes.
The album encapsulates traditional Death Metal but with a modern approach, as opposed to modern Death Metal, having a slightly technical edge with just enough melody to draw you in but brutal enough to satisfy the most discerning ear, alongside a thrashy undercurrent resulting in a clean and intense sound, and a harsh Death Metal vocal delivery. I particularly like the vocals which come in on two levels, best demonstrated on “No Privacy” where you get a higher rasp and a much lower growl, adding a lot to the overall sound, which has a good degree of originality to its concept. They aren’t trying to actively sound like anyone else, you could find similarities, but it’s not glaringly obvious.
“Conspiracy Theorist” explores, as the title suggests, themes of scandals, a critique of mainstream media and conspiracies such as hollow Earth. ‘“Conspiracy Theorist”’ is an album that’s meant to open your mind about the way the world revolves around us as it offers a new perspective on many issues that we see in our lives.’ comments vocalist/guitarist Christian M. Thériault.
And the scene is set perfectly with the brief sinister opener “Inaugural Address”, which overlaid by JF Kennedys inaugural 1961 speech, before ripping into “Whistle Blower” with its galloping Thrash delivery, a track which pretty much dictates the pace of the whole release I’m glad to say, save a little midpoint breather, the reflective and slightly proggy instrumental interlude ’The Hum’ which makes the Thrash rich second half of the release; “My Disclosure”, “Geo Engineering”, “Banksters” and final and title track “Conspiracy Theorist” all the more intense in comparison.
BackStabber have already tantalized fans with two singles from this release, the brutally crushing
“No Privacy” with those previously mentioned vocal layers and an intense driving Thrash infused delivery and superb midpoint lead work, which lyrically ‘focuses on the pervasive usage of metadata collection and their multiple applications merged with quantum analyzing’ and the equally fast paced “Subterranean” which looks at the debunked but once popular theory of Hollow Earth, suggested by Edmund Halley in the seventeenth century but disproven by Charles Hutton one hundred years later.
“Conspiracy Theorist” is a very refreshing listen, I’ve no favourite track, each stands solidly alone on its own individual merits, and should appeal to fans of the likes of Kataklysm, Hypocrisy, Decapitated, Deicide, and At The Gates and is available from bandcamp and Itunes.
Rating – 4/5
link below!
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