Blood Splattered Satisfaction

What artists come to mind when you think of metal’s most creative minds?

Gorguts? Deathspell Omega? Wayne Knupp?

No matter what your answer is, I’d assume that one name, in particular, does not immediately come to mind. As a matter of fact, it probably never comes to mind. For most people, New Jersey slam/deathcore group Waking the Cadaver are the opposite of creative, but for those in the know, it is readily apparent that their concise discography ranks as one of the best that metal has to offer.

The members of Waking the Cadaver rejecting mediocrity.

Not unlike some of their more conventional slam forefathers, Waking the Cadaver were a misunderstood collective of some of the most untamed creative spirits to ever step into the studio. This artistic brilliance can be found to be clearly evident on any of the band’s recordings, but the biggest statement made by the band is undeniably 2010’s Beyond Cops. Beyond God. 

Released by Siege of Amida Records, everything about this album is a statement by the band.  The title of the album alone warrants a great deal of discussion.

A plethora of bands have fought the law, but only Waking the Cadaver have succeeded in surpassing the corrupt boys in blue. Similarly, many artists have used religious imagery as a means of comparison, after all, John Lennon claimed the Beatles were more popular than Jesus, and Kanye West claims to be a god in his own right. Both of those statements may be true, especially the latter, but Waking the Cadaver had more ambitious claims to make.

Even the name, Waking the Cadaver speaks to their mighty powers, as they can raise the dead through their music.

Through their choice of title, Waking the Cadaver are expressing their dominion over the mortal realm as well as the supernatural. They are beyond cops, the deadliest force known to man, but they are also beyond God, an impressive achievement given His omnipotence. They succeeded where all others failed, for they are truly creative beings freed from the shackles of human limitations.

Some might argue that it’s not enough just to claim one’s superiority, and I would certainly agree. Fortunately, Waking the Cadaver proved that they did indeed possess an astonishing amount of clout. Only a group that is beyond God could have fused deathcore and slam so intricately, and so well, years before it became the hot new trend among English teenagers. I can only assume that this is why they chose to release their opus through a label called Siege of Amida. For a band so meticulous in their message, they must have chosen their label in order to subtly tell the world that they were coming to lay siege to our pre-conceived notions regarding slam and music as a whole.

Beyond Cops. Beyond God. isn’t Waking the Cadaver’s best record, nor is it their most popular, but when they’re given the critical re-evaluation that all great bands are given, it will be remembered as the most definitive. For a band as universally reviled as they are, it must have required an overwhelming amount of self-confidence to release such an immediately iconic album. MySpace critics were harsh, undeservingly so in regard to Waking the Cadaver, and I’m sure they didn’t give the band their rightful credit for innovating the game.

Thankfully, hindsight is 20/20, and we can give Waking the Cadaver their well-earned props for pioneering a fusion of death metal’s most lowbrow subgenres into one amorphous blob of mindless brutality. Slam and deathcore don't often mix well, as amalgamations of the two genres often descend into self-parody, but Waking the Cadaver found the sweet spot between the two. Without them, the world of music would be a much smarter place, and that wouldn’t be any fun at all.