Dissect the Coroner have been busy churning out some extreme American metal for their fans in the southern States, sharing the stage with the likes of All Shall Perish and Whitechapel and have released a 3-track EP and 2-track demo since formation in 2006.

What’s impressive about this band is their polished presence right out of the gate. Here’s a group who seem to have quickly developed an identity that works for them and know how to push themselves and their instruments to the limits to achieve a style that rivals the more established bands of the genre. Having a squeaky clean production doesn’t hurt, either.

Fueling this short but powerful EP is a fusion of wicked grooving guitar melodies with the sheer power and crushing riffs of death metal. The instrumentals are smothered almost to a fault by deep, gutteral growls that are overly layered for my preference and are completely unintelligible, but that’s almost to be expected for this style. The use of gang vocals in “A Battle for Lives” provides a nice contrast to the otherwise relentless vocal assault.

To be honest I’m not a huge fan of metalcore, but there was something different here that made me keep listening, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. But no matter, these guys clearly know how to throw down some solid material and we’ll be hearing more from them in the near future as they are currently working on their debut full-length.

6.5/10

• Genre: Metalcore
• Label: Unsigned
• Origin: Nashville, USA
• Link: http://www.myspace.com/dissectthecoroner
• Year: 2007