Review by Michael on October 16, 2001.

System of a Down seem to be walking a fine line with the metal populous. Many simply condemning them to just nu-metal and wanting nothing to do with them. But I would have to disagree here, as here is a band that as opposed to the many nu-metal spin-offs are actually doing something original and quite entertaining.

This is the first major release from the Armenian New Yorker’s on the ironic label of American Records, because if you care to read the lyrics or pay any attention to the band’s philosophies you will quickly realise that they are not America’s greatest political fans.

They’re style is certainly their own. One second they are making a serious statement against one injustice or another through a serious sounding piece of music, then they surprise the listener with an upbeat polka beat with what could be only be described as schizophrenic vocals, moving from one extreme to another. They are certainly unpredictable. It’s this original combination of genre’s like Jazz, Swing with hard hitting grinding metal (along we a good dose of insanity) that gives this band the edge of the mundane influx of “new metal” boy bands.

Produced by Rick Rubin, the production on this CD is huge…perhaps a little too huge, because when cranked it does distort. Perhaps the boys all got a little too excited. Musically this band are very tight. There is nothing on the album that I would describe as complicated, but the overall impact is massive giving the listener plenty of “bang your head” sections to work their hair swing magic with.

Bottom Line: A good solid (if not crazy at times) debut by these young proud Armenian men. If you are displeased with the world political system and like a good jump up and down at the same, then this is a safe bet.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Review by chrisc7249 on May 9, 2022.

For as much as I love technical death metal, it's no secret that, in any genre of music, bands start to sound the same after a while. There's nothing wrong with bands sounding similar, but, when someone breaks the mold and you get a band that's truly unique, it's a special experience. Peripheral Cortex, from Germany, is a relatively new act that fuses mathcore and technical death metal to create one of the most bizarre sounds in the genre's history.

God Kaiser Hell is a sweet blend of viciousness, technicality and experimentation. Firstly, the vocals are all over the place. The low growls aren't too brutal, but they get the job done - the high pitched screeches are insane. This guy sounds like a madman when he screams out hysterically, sometimes at random over the various tracks. There's clean metalcore singing, which would turn me off 9 times out of 10, but has actually grown on me in the context of this record. There's spoken parts, falsettos, you name it, it's in here somewhere.

Instrumentation is this album's high point, however. It has an almost video game-like feel, similar to The Beast of Nod, but this is an entirely different monster. I guess the best mish mash of bands I could come up with to describe this would be Archspire, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Unhuman, and First Fragment. Yes, this is that all over the place. The riffing isn't necessarily mind blowing, but the lead guitars and fretless (?) bass makes up for the mediocre riffing plenty. There's whirling dissonance, explosive melodic sweeps, breakdowns and, of course, sick pinch harmonics.

As one could imagine, the individual performances are incredible. Every band member is a master of their instrument, and their songwriting plays to their strengths for the most part. Rarely do you get a breather from the relentless onslaught of wankery and extraterrestrial vocals. This creates what could easily be perceived as just a wall of notes, but with repeated listens, a pretty good tech death record is revealed with plenty of fun and intriguing ideas.

Ultimately, it is a hard album to digest and I'm not even sure I've let it sink in enough just yet. But, about 15 listens in, I can firmly say this is one of the most unique technical death metal albums I've heard in a long time. This is definitely not for everyone, but those who don't mind wankery and are looking for something "quirky" and different might find some enjoyment in checking out this beast. Not for the faint of heart.

FFO: Unhuman, Atlantis Chronicles, Shadow in the Darkness

Favorite song: '#Selfiewithgod'

Rating: 7 out of 10