When encountering a band that goes by the name Reptilian Death, chances are that you won’t be listening to anything light or calm; however, it also means that you might be dealing with a band that sings about vacuuming geckos and sniffing swamp juices. Luckily, before yelling “No!” I noticed the awesome cover artwork and the album’s title – The Dawn Of Consummation And Emergence – which suggested that this could be something serious.
After a short intro, “Inchoate” took off like your typical Swedish Death Metal song with a great riff, fast drumming and some venomous vocals on top. Looking whether I know any of the band members, I found a small piece of information that turned out to be very important: Reptilian Death hail from India. Now, I do like to call myself a worldly person, at least when it comes to my metal, but the fact that it was my first time listening to a band from that region changed my whole perspective.
Unfortunately, it didn’t change for the better. While the album has a strong base and some very cool moments on songs like “Emerge, Hatred, Emerge” or “O” (which surges some epicness within the brutality), I would have liked to hear some regional influences. I don’t suggest that they must take on the Sitar and put distortion on it, but if you look at fellow Death Metal bands like Nervecell or Aeternam, both of whom have Middle-Eastern origins, you’ll find plenty of inspiration in the riffs and attitude.
Don’t get me wrong, you won’t be suffering when listening to this album. Production-wise, it sounds crisp and menacing. The Demonstealer, which happen to be an all around Indian metal musician, is doing a great job on guitars and vocals (not sure if main ones), even if his drumming lacks the extra pump. His fellow Reptilian members also show some talent in their different departments, and all-in-all, they seem to know their craft.
The Dawn Of Consummation And Emergence could have been accepted as a decent sophomore album by a relatively unfamiliar band – only if that specific band wasn’t hailing from such an exotic location as India. Because of that, the lack of difference or uniqueness really affects the overall feel and that’s a shame for Reptilian Death. With that being said, it was nice to be reminded once again that the passion for metal exists all over the planet and all we have to do is dig it up.