Affliction (Tur) - Execution Is Necessary

Swedish melodic death metal straight from the motherland…Turkey. This is the first Turkish metal I’ve heard, and I’m impressed. Hailing from Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city, Affliction recast late ’90s Gothenburg melodeath with some modern influences (blastbeats, Pantera-ish swing, Meshuggah-esque choppiness). What by now is a familiar sound in Western metal must be quite alien in Turkey, so I’m curious how it goes down there.

The End
Raven

Dark Tranquillity is a big influence on Execution Is Necessary (Poem Productions, 2007). Darkane also comes to mind in some of its thrashier passages. “Raven” is a dead ringer for Dark Tranquillity, especially in the midpaced syncopations of the chorus. Yes, it’s hardly original. But it’s interesting how accurately this band nails what makes Dark Tranquillity tick – something I’ve heard no other band do. Fortunately, the album as a whole doesn’t over-rely on this crutch. Fewer keyboards and more aggression – it doesn’t quite add up to a unique sound, but it yields a headbangable listen.

The production is slightly raw but effective, and the performances push the beat. Overall, the urgent vibe is a nice respite from the usual over-compressed Century Media-type treatment this sound gets these days. The lyrics are straightforward but thoughtful, dealing with internal struggle and the apocalypse. On only its second album, this band is already as fluent as its Western peers. Well-done.

Execution Is Necessary is available physically from Hammer Muzik and Affliction’s webshop, and digitally at TotalMusicNut.