Legendary Cannibal Corpse bassist, Alex Webster is a major fan of Brain Drill. He endorses the band with a quote on the front cover of their Metal Blade debut full-length, Apocalyptic Feasting. Webster vehemently states, “They are truly raising the bar for technicality, velocity, and over extremity in death metal.” One listen to Apocalyptic Feasting, there is no denying he is telling the truth.

First, the speed Brain Drill possesses is at a higher level from than ninety-five percent of death metal bands. Commanding their blitzkrieg attack is skins man, Lord Marco Pitruzzella. Pitruzzella’s drum skills are nothing short of amazing. He keeps his feet in constant motion, never seeming to slow, always keeping the attack fast and furious. His machine gun volleys are too swift to come from a flesh and blood drummer, but this is no drum machine. Listeners will not hear typewriter drumming here; Pitruzzella achieves a thick thump in his drum sound.

Pitruzzella and his cohorts rarely halt the sweltering pace. Stoppages only occur briefly during rhythm breaks and the occasional stomp groove. These minute breaks in the rhythm are crammed full of technical wizardry. Guitarist, Dylan Ruskin dexterously moves from blistering-fast picking to complex geometric scales, filling the gap with solos that are too fast and scientific to comprehend, but never leaving any blank spots, no matter how small, so their listeners’ minds stay enthralled through the album’s duration.

Following the tradition of their friend Alex Webster is bassist Jeff Hughell. Even though Apocalyptic Feasting features such a large, churning sound, the group is still able to shine the spotlight on Hughell’s incredulous bass talents. A close listen will reveal Hughell’s bass licks, note-for-note. These notes come through clearly in the back of the mix. Hughell often pursues Ruskin’s barrage of a thousand notes during quick rhythmic breaks. He redefines technical bass playing through his technique of playing a ten-fingered tapping technique on his seven string bass. Listen to the bass solo on “Bury the Living” for more evidence of his remarkable ability.

Impressive new bands are a rare commodity in today’s death metal scene. Innovator leaders in the death metal scene are nearly extinct. While Brain Drill’s Apocalyptic Feasting does not break new barriers in style—a mix of Cannibal Corpse and Necrophagist is an apt description of their sound—their musical prowess is nothing short of genius.

Apocalyptic Feasting is a classic album because it is solid in many aspects. It is both technical and catchy. The deep vocals clearly fit the zombie holocaustic tales, yet not excessively low to the point of garbled inaudibility. Brain Drill is the antidote to a scene in desperate need of a cure!

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