And Utero Dominae

Jeremy Morse-Metalreview

It is probably due to thrash overload, that I find And Utero Dominae’s demo Minor Evolutions to be such a breath of fresh air. Overcome by the stale air of eighties nostalgia, AUD’s nineties styled industrial metal sound is positively invigorating. Guitarist/bassist/vocalist, Sam Geiger lays a foundation of punishing riffs that alternately heave and crash like storm driven surf, and clatter like machine gun fire. For his part, drummer Justin Brink does a perfect impression of a drum machine, blasting out over-processed beats with mechanical precision.

While the foundation is solid enough, it is the embellishments that elevate Minor Evolutions above a mere meat and potatoes affair. A minute and ten seconds into the opening track, “This Low,” Geiger unleashes a face-melting solo that would do Krisiun proud, serving notice that this album will not be an exercise in cold industrial minimalism. In addition to fret board heroics, Geiger employs a lot of tonal variation, be it from varying distortion levels or effects such as harmonization and whammy pedal tricks, so that the changes from riff to riff are not only melodic and rhythmic, but often also textural.

The demo concludes with two longer tracks, “Minor Evolutions,” and “Occupier,” wherein the band finds time between the pummeling to showcase its subtle side. The title track features a section of slinky, rolling bass line and some mellow harmonized leads. “Occupier” opens with an infectious guitar clarion call and closes with a gently plucked melody, complimented by a chicken picked counter melody.

And Utero Dominae’s only weak point is Geiger’s rather generic shouted vocals, but the band’s other strengths more than make up for the lack. Minor Evolutions is a work that is musically engaging, sonically adventurous, and heavy as fuck. Industrial metal may not be the hottest trend right now, but good metal is timeless, and Minor Evolutions is damn good metal.














METALREVIEW author: Matt Mooring
Now here’s a pretty solid little demo offering of industrialized thrash from upstarts And Utero Dominae. Unfortunately, there’s just ten minutes of material served up, but the good news is that two of the album’s three tracks are available for download from the band’s website. I often find industrial metal somewhat lacking, in that it seems that bands often lean too far toward one element or the other. In general, industrial bands with metal overtones usually work better for me than metal bands that incorporate electronic elements. And Utero Dominae is an exception to that, and stand as a disctintly metal band able to get maximum mileage of both styles. Taking queues from usual suspects like Ministry and Fear Factory, And Utero Dominae hammer out energetic cyber-thrash and tense slower melodies contrasted with groove-laden seething rhythms. The band crushes out of the gate with the breakneck aggro hammering of "Bleeding Machines", easily the most single minded, unrelenting track of the three. The buoyant, repetitive grooving riffing is punctuated sharply by Justin Brink’s drum work, which alternates between following the riffs and providing pulverizing, metronomic snare-abuse. The following two tracks exhibit a bit more diversity. "The Agony Disease" picks up where the high powered title track left off, but midway through transitions to a slower groove based on a more dynamic riff and distorted, echoing snarls from band mastermind Sam Geiger, which when delivered a couple words at a time, are reminiscent of the Ministry classic "Thieves". Closer "The Agony Disease" establishes a tight mechanical, rolling groove with guitars and bass drum, while the slower accompaniment from the cymbal work, vocals, and guitar melodies between verses give the track a scathing, molten tone. Bleeding Machines, even at only ten-minutes long, contains more depth and variety than I initially expected, and repeated listens have only proven to reinforce the album’s hooks, ferocity, and nuance. This bodes well for the band’s eventual full-length effort, which will hopefully arrive soon. It will be interesting to see whether And Utero Dominae are capable of maintaining this form over the course of an entire album without dulling the material’s considerable effectiveness.
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Chronicles of Chaos author:
First EP for American duo And Utero Dominae, and what they offer is three tracks of crushing modern thrash. The band consists of mainman Sam Geiger and drummer Justin Brink. In the course of the three songs, the heavy guitars and hardcore influenced drums dominate the sound. The vocals are harsh, thrashy and shouted, at points taking hardcore or death metal turns. Opener "Bleeding Machines" is straightforward enough, but the other two songs twist and turn a bit more, touching some keyboards and slightly toying with the guitar tremolo. In "The Agony Disease", the mechanised drumming gives an aura of industrialised militarism, whereas "The Inverted" flirts with more commercial American metal bands, if only in the vocals and riffing. This is a good first effort, but with only three songs it is difficult to tell what their debut will be like. The songs are consistent, tight and well produced. They also unfold a bit more after successive listens, which is always a good thing. I would be interested to see what they come up with next. For now, you can get the well-packaged _Bleeding Machines_ from their website, where you can also sample their music to see if it is to your liking.
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