The debut CD by Santa Cruz, CA-based death metal band Decrepit Birth displays little of the stylistic innovation they would showcase on later releases.

Though the track titles ("Thought Beyond Infinity," "Rebirth of Consciousness") occasionally reflect an introspective lyrical POV that sets them apart from the gore-obsessed death metal pack, the music doesn't always hold up its end of the deal.

The downtuned guitars sink into the overall mix, ceding dominance to the indecipherably guttural vocals and the typewriter-like drums.

Fortunately, on virtually every song there are parts where the drums and vocals drop out, allowing the guitarist to riff away madly, in a style very reminiscent of East Coast death metal outfits like Immolation and particularly Suffocation.

And while the riffs are extremely complex and go by with lightning speed, these very qualities also render them somewhat unmemorable.

Cannibal Corpse are a great example of a band able to play high-speed, complicated death metal and also make it catchy -- their songs stick in your head.

Decrepit Birth, while being impressively brutal and crushing, can't say the same.