Headshrinker - Callous Indifference - Album Review

Another blessed daytime here in St. Helsinki with an absolutely clear sky and sunshine, I am listening to a special record that has been repeatedly played in my library for the last two weeks. Headshrinker, a vintage black/death metal project hailing from Denver, Colorado, has released their debut album titled Callous Indifference on August 27, 2021.

Headshrinker, Suffocating Tomb (Official Audio)

My listening experiences of Callous Indifference started with a sour taste that kept me hooked for a few days. Although I don’t have enough clarity in my thoughts even as of today, there was enough quality that earned my respect, so I will try to share my honest opinion here.

The album caught my attention with its familiar concept that incorporates death, black, doom, and progressive metal influences with a contemporary sound and vintage character. Musically, it stands out for its ugliness above everything else since the understanding behind it doesn’t involve anything related to beauty. While the band maintains an album concept of this specific taste, they explore extreme, blackened, technical, and progressive worlds, accompanied by the collective’s monstrous performances. As a guitarist with 20+ years of experience in the music world, Headshrinker has one of the best contemporary guitar and drum combinations with so much power, liveliness, and an old-school character, evoking memories of Death records that I admire; they both aim to capture analog sounds with top-notch musicianship performances.

Moreover, Callous Indifference has a structure that is rather based on instrumentation rather than the vocals as we are accustomed to from these genres, which is at the same time, one of the strong qualities of Headshrinker. The collective deserves the utmost respect for their understanding of a tight metal sound that will make them sound as established as industry-leading records, in my honest opinion.

Headshrinker, band photo. Credit: Unknown.

On the other side of the coin, the album regrettably didn’t resonate with me in its musical language. I have to admit that I found it a bit too narrow and limited, even though I imagined myself playing guitars with them on the seventh track, “Suffocating Tomb,” my favorite song on the album, and its signature riffs made me feel this way.

In conclusion, Headshrinker is one of my strong recommendations for those who specifically enjoy these worlds. Offering an established contemporary sound with vintage characteristics, incorporating death, black, doom, and progressive metal influences with top-notch musicianship performances, although in a traditional language. Thank you for reading.