Mortification

Item: Primitive Rhythm Machine
Author: D_Lister

Primitive Rhythm Machine

(1995)

Reviewed by D_Lister

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Label Intense RecordsDead Zine2002

death metal grindcore heavy metal thrash metal

Primitive Rhythm Machine has an interesting distinction about it. That being that it is known as having the best album cover of any Mortification album. Indeed if you've been on the Rowe Productions website in the past year (just anytime in the year 2000 would do) you'd find that they have to re-print the T-Shirt that this album created to keep up with demand. I've seen people sporting tattoos of this album cover as well.

However if as much time and energy were put into the music on this CD as was put into the album cover there might be something you could really enjoy. The music follows the change that Mortification started with their previous album Bloodworld. There's no real evidence of the death metal they became known for, however it's still a very metal release. A lot of giddy-up riffs are used to create not quite the chugga-monster we've seen so many times, and leads to dazzle this CD to keep us rooted in the metal quite nicely. For the most part this CD consists of Steve Rowe and George Ochoa doing most of the work. This CD was recorded pretty quickly, having been done while the band was out on tour supporting the Bloodworld album. I believe this was recorded 'live' as opposed to laying each track down individually, and herein lies the real problems. True it's this style of recording that gave Steve the idea for the name 'Primitive Rhythm Machine' but the end product is the reason this CD is so readily available in used CD shops. It's just not that good sounding.

Compared to other Mortification releases this one definitely pales. All I can tell you is if you're a huge Mortification fan you'll have a copy of this just because it's so easy to get. If you are just the casual Mortification fan steer clear and you'll be ok.

5/10