Stigmata of Life is the 2004 release from Poland's Spinal Cord, now being re-released by Metal Mind Productions. Spinal Cord features bassist Marcin Nowak, who also plays with the powerhouse Vader, and the rest of the band is made up of Barney (vocals), Krystian Wojdas & Smoq (guitars) and Basti (drums). Musically, things aren't much different here than what you would expect on a Vader, Decapitated, or Behemoth release, lots of thrashing, often times technical riffs, manic double bass drums & blast beats, and plenty of venemous vocals. Problem is, most of these songs are simply not that memorable, too many follow a similar path where the riffs just repeat themselves and the blasting gets rather tedious. On top of it all, vocalist Barney is just not a very good death metal singer, his growls simply not very convincing and extremely grating at times. On the plus side, the CD artwork is rather cool, there are some nice shred solos sprinkled throughout the album, and the overall intensity is there, but when you can't write a memorable death metal tune and the vocals just don't work, the outlook is pretty bleak.
Track Listing
01. Burn Them All
02. Body Dismorphy
03. Retrospection
04. Mind Killer
05. Amphitheatre
06. Storm
07. Ramirez
08. Beg For A Fast Death
09. Stigmatized Possessed
10. Critical Moment (Dead End)
11. Epitaph
12. Exile
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