Death Lab, despite its look, is something born out of love and passion. It's a project you're likely never to see in person because it doesn't seem to me anything more then a passion project. Once a three man band, Death Lab is now solely run by it's original creator, a man who simply (or maybe not so simply) goes by the name SylverA (Yes, the capital A was meant to be there). It's unfortunate since they (he) show tremendous knowledge and love of death metal within this new demo.
The first two tracks, "Choose Me Over Us" and "Make Yourself Up" are pretty standard death metal tracks that succeed because they don't try to stray from the safe confines the genre has previously set up for them. "Make Yourself Up" stands out, but simply because its chugging melodies and pounding double bass pedal-infused drumming really make it the catchier of the two.
"Betrayal Of Trust", with its short but impressively up-tempo break down, keeps the strong showing going on the demo. Again, it's nothing fancy, but it's clear a lot of work gets put into this, and with nary a mistake heard, it makes it that much more enjoyable. "Draw To A Close", a rather aptly named last track for the album, feels less taken care of as a song, sounding like it wants to impress you more with its guitar work than simply impressing you as an overall song.
"Lack Of Vision" comes across as more a combination of power metal and death metal, though not as epic as you might expect a power metal comparison to be. It's a solid track that bolsters a resume, but doesn't take the cake far as 'hit' songs go. And "Stray To Escape" never really clicks on any levels, which is sad because if they'd really concentrated on more harmonies and less solos and guitar noodling, it could have worked well.
Death Lab have released a nice demo here, and it's something I hope they do more of in the future. It's never fancy, or awe-inspiring, but good and catchy enough to warrant multiple listens. Considering it's one mans pride and joy to keep this project going, it makes it all the more impressive for it. And that's something I'm sure he aims to do every day. - Shane
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