Stitch knit together a scorching blanket of eclectic percussion, grating vocals, crunchy snarling riffs that drip with a early 90's metal flair. Comparable perhaps to Sepultura or Puya for the incorporation of rumbling eccentric percussion and perhaps maybe a bit of Brujeira for overall guitar sound this group brings a style that has been lacking from the metal scene lately and in turn feels very invigorating. Vocals are threshed out with a malicious tone, coming from all members of this three piece and as such attack from all angles. It seems that throughout the verses each word is spit out with utter disgust, giving a very raw feel and painting a very dark picture that could possibly be described as a blast of razor tipped words. Slightly more deathmetal influenced than anything else, the vocals do fit well with the groups music and are a nice touch as a complete package. Guitarwise the album is almost always convulsing with scratchy riffs that claw their way inside the listeners ear dragging their dull shrill like tuning down the inside breaking the flesh as they go, Very start and stop and even staccato at points they interlock with the percussion giving a tight groove that provides for alot of breaks and pauses making them assault the listeners senses in spurts. Fairly standard riffage is the general concept with little experimentation being attempted, instead in it's place are guitar parts based on a sturdy tried and true nature, utilizing solid riffs and open note chords that ring out with a medium crunchy distortion. the nature of the playing gives alot of breathing room to percussive elements of the band and they do indeed capitalize on this as such. Bass is a bit downtuned and very grooveladen with looping riffs that don't tire out as they are combined with consistent fills in the various breaks and pauses that are to the groups music, what garnish is to a meal. Not extremely impressive as a whole, but it does densely syncopate with the drums and guitar at separate times establishing itself as a keystone in the groups music. Percussion is the bands seemingly natural aptitude, as this release comes caked with double kick and tom rolls featuring Latin and Brazilian influences that pummel the listener with a constant arsenal of rolls and smashes. The music the band creates is thoroughly enjoyable drumwise alone and with this in mind, the progressive improvisation and constant shifting of standard drums and percussive elements the band implements could very well be this CD's biggest highlight. Not as relentless as say the percussion unit of a group like Slipknot, Stitch instead branch off into a very world music sounding style that shows grace and solid musical knowledge rather than an blistering rapid fire blitz of bone breaking hits and rolls. The groups attention to song structure and immersive use of percussion in achieving such tasks keep the tracks going at a steady pace and envelop the listener in an expansive auditory wall that could possibly even bring forth images of angered tribal warriors rampaging throughout a jungle. Heavy aggro groove's do show their head on this CD but not in a nu metal or Korn cliche sound, and that's what probably is the deciding factor in making this groups music all the more fulfilling, it's very intelligent and calculated, rather than being just plain brutal and cutthroat. Still though there are some pitfalls of the album that do deserve mention. Although playing wise it is tactful and gratifying, it seemingly lacks any dynamically changing structure as a whole. The music seems to keep on a certain level and speed from start to finish and doesn't really slow down or speed up from there on in, not necessarily monotone in nature as there are many changing parts with breaks and fills but it just seems that after a few tracks the grooves laid down are shy of any drastic changes and begin to take their toll with a slight feeling of repetition where as a smoothed out percussion driven breakdown/fill or even a supercharged blast of frenzied guitars could make the music all the more intense, but rather than doing as such, the band implements a rigidly even pace that is almost too flat progression wise. Another slight mark against the band could be the tone of the distortion/tuning of the guitar, it is seemingly very static and unchanging for the most part as it's cloaked behind a moderately rough distortion that isn't exactly annoying but feels somewhat weary and out of place. If it were cranked down a bit lower and given a bit more punch and chunk tone wise the combination of it with the already heady grinding riffs and throbbing percussion that is in place, would make an unstoppable mixture of ground up aggression. Even with a style that can at times feel slightly dated, the group stitches together a groove laced wrecking ball of a CD that has a rich enough environment to keep most listeners entertained, perhaps just a bit more sharpening and darkening of the musical elements in place is quite possibly all this band needs to be able to barrel over any listener with an even more violent flurry of their own impeccable brand of pure tribal aggro power.
(4 / 5)