The Florida Death Metal scene is one of those which can boast some titans in the genre. Cannibal Corpse, Obituary, Six Feet Under, Death, Morbid Angel, Atheist and Hate Eternal are all well-known names and have helped define some aspects of the ‘Death Metal Sound’, but what about the bands that helped make up the scene in the earlier days? Killing Addiction from Ocala, central Florida were originally active in the early 90’s and have reformed again towards the later parts of the 2000’s. Having been signed to Xtreem Music, the band has released a second full length back in 2010 which joins their catalogue of EP’s. This re-issue of “Omega Factor” is a 25th anniversary remastering which also includes the 1990 “Legacies Of Terror” demo and the 1991 “Necrosphere” EP. So without further fuss, let’s see how a band that helped in the growth of a genre and scene have aged.

This recording hasn’t aged well.

The remastering job hasn’t helped with audio improvements or quality. That early/old school feel is present but the rawness and rough around the edges feel you would expect to have been slightly refined seems a bit more obvious than it would be, leading to several very noticeable dips on some tracks. Some of the guitar parts suddenly feel weaker in places and the drums get a bit too sharp in spots, leading to a rather disjointed feel at times. In other places, the sound seems to suddenly plummet in presence and volume, leading to a fair few rough patches which weaken the overall experience. With these initial issues highlighted, there is then the decision to add on the demo and the EP. Whilst this is a common tactic at times, the fact that in this instance, one track appears three times (Necrosphere) and the length between these appearances isn’t that significant, which leads to a real bad case of deja-vu, only with a significantly worsening audio quality to each reoccurrence of the moment.

It doesn’t bode well for “Omega Factor”, but aside from these distractions and issues, there are some good moments. It has a fairly blunt and brutal edge to it which is to be expected from a Florida Death Metal band, and from this, you can see what ultimately led to the style and sound bands like Ingested, Katalepsy and Neuroma have used many years later. The track “Equating The Trinity” has some real filthy riffs and guitar sounds to it, paralleling the approach Carcass used on their finest studio release “Necroticism”. The ferocity of the delivery really hits the mark and it does accurately reflect the way Death Metal was developed and how it grown from those early days.

Sadly, Killing Addiction were and always will be overshadowed by their more prolific peers who hail from their home state. Whilst they may have had success in their home region of central Florida, in the larger scheme, they just seem to have lacked that quality bands like Cannibal Corpse and Obituary have. The easily identifiable vocals, the surgically precise instrumental assault, things like that are severely lacking on “Omega Factor” and what we are left with is merely an artefact which can be used to demonstrate the growth and evolution of a genre, but not much else.

(3.5/10 Fraggle)

https://www.facebook.com/killingaddiction

https://killingaddiction.bandcamp.com/album/omega-factor-2018-reissue