Although I consider myself fairly immersed in death metal, I am not sure about the residences of band members. Recently, I had noticed that Internal Suffering had been playing a few shows in the New York area, a band that I knew was from Columbia. So, I decided to play the role of a dick (in both meanings of the word) and do a little research. What did I find? Nothing! However, I am left with a few clues. For one, the band picture on the tray of the disc seems to be on the 6 train in NYC. Secondly, I saw Internal Suffering in a crappy bar in Long Island and I had hoped that they didn’t drive all the way from Columbia (is that possible?) to play for 10 people. Thirdly, I know that Goretrade features Internal Suffering member Andreas Garcia. So, it is possible that these two bands reside in New York. The reason I mention this is because Goretrade display a vast knowledge of the oft-hated New York death metal sound, much to your dismay and my approval. And right when I had thought all New York music had gone either in the direction of death-core or overly-technical nonsense, this album emerged, instilling joy into my heart. And my apologizes to the Columbian scene, but my dick work leads me to believe that Internal Suffering and Goretrade are full-fledged members of the New York scene. But, I am sure we can share the brutality. Well, enough with demographics, let’s get to the music, shall we?

If you haven’t stopped reading yet because of my mentioning of the New York sound, you obviously enjoy my flair for reviewing and my large sausage. As I mentioned before, Goretrade features Internal Suffering member Andreas Garcia. If you are a fan of Internal Suffering, you probably already have this. This down-tuned, stop and go death metal with plenty of head-banging riffs with is reminiscent of a higher skilled Artery Eruption or Devourment. Its moshy, it’s brutal, and it’s everything you can hope for in this type of music. You have the classic, slightly triggered bass drums and a snare drum that sounds like the drummer lost his and borrowed a Caribbean steel drum. And when you are playing with that, you might as well blast until your balls fall off. The vocals remind me slightly of Rich from Fleshgrind and it is interesting to hear that vocal style with this type of music when you are expecting burping, belching, vomiting or some other type of vocal style in the same vain. Unlike Devourment or Artery Eruption, the faster riffs between the slower parts are coherent and decipherable.

Although Goretrade and Internal Suffering are both great, I actually prefer this album to much of Internal Suffering’s releases mostly because of the simpler song structures. That being said, I know who is going to buy this and those who will not.

Written By: Double Ds