Scottish’s Scordatura sledgehammer listeners with another slab of stone cold brutal death metal for another 30 minutes or so with their third album, “Mass Failure”. It is kind of an ironic title as the group does not fail here, but rather continue down the path they started back in 2009. The music is straightforward death metal very much in the vein of Cannibal Corpse meets Morbid Angel, especially in the vocal department. After the opening ‘Disease of Mind’ one has to check the member roster to see if George Corpsegrinder is on it; the guy here does a flawless imitation of it. His vocals are pushed right into the front so they can’t be missed such as on tracks like ‘Immense Atrocity’ and ‘Nothing But Dust,’ which unfortunately buries the other instruments a bit, but for those who like this kind of death metal there is no going wrong with it. It is fast, hard, and pretty much a neck breaker with how much head banging it can incite.

Scordatura also have their groove oriented side as well with some of their breakdowns such as on ‘Contorted Existence’ or ‘World Devoured’ where the group slows down quite a bit, opting more for a Six Feet Under pace laced with doom moments. Here the vocals feel a bit more balanced with the guitars, bass, and drums so one can appreciate the more technical aspect of the instruments. While still brutal death metal to the core, one can’t help but admire the slow, chugging riff moments when suddenly everything explodes for the faster sections, and the hammer to the ears continue. The title track is probably the fastest on the album, so listeners who don’t like any ‘breathing room’ in their music will definitely enjoy this one save for a few seconds of foreboding riffs.

‘Collapse Of Humanity’ bring forth the more technical aspects of the band, especially with its frantic stop and go pace. Shedding the whole Cannibal Corpse feel there is definitely some Archspire moments here, but like most of the tracks it is a bit too quick and ends right when one is just getting to appreciate what the song has to offer. Overall listeners are going to have their heads spinning after this simply from the sheer ferocity of the album. Most brutal death metal artists can tend to get the music right, but the vocals a bit too guttural, or they opt for the old school feel of groups such as Bloodbath do but make all the instrumentation feel melted together while the vocals are spot on. Despite the extreme likeness to Cannibal Corpse, Scordatura do a fine job with “Mass Failure” making it a surefire listen for anyone who likes death metal hard and brutal without being too overwhelming in any one department.

3.5 / 5 STARS