Another one-man-band today, this one Rotem from Portugal – a progressive black/death metal act. I suppose “formed” would be the wrong word for a single-person project… Rotem began working on tracks in 2012 and released his first demo in 2013 (Humanity’s Fall).
2014 saw Rotem create his first album, Dehumanization, which was released early in 2015. The creative juices must have been flowing as it was followed up only a couple of months later with an EP, Nightmare Forever (although at ten tracks, I’d think it fair to class it as an album). Rotem himself plays all instruments – there are no session musicians, and from what I can hear it sounds like proper drums as well. I’ve found a few solo acts often use drum machines, but not in this case.
Between the releases, there are some great songs and Rotem has managed not to get stuck in a rut at all. There’s some decent stuff on here, some of which does show up a few expected influences – very early Sepultura, perhaps, and a riff on “The Pain” which sounds like Slayer’s “South of Heaven” on speed.
Production isn’t bad. Stereo is well used for the multiple vocal tracks and the bass is fairly beefy underlying the more trebly guitars. Nightmare Forever is definitely a bit heavier in tone – more bass than the first album. It’s also a little more evil-sounding; more black than death.
Dehumanization is available through Ethereal Sound whereas Nightmare Forever is out through Rot’Em Records.
Rotem: official | facebook | soundcloud | youtube
