There are 3 heavy hitters of the recent death metal resurgence I am reviewing (late). I don’t want to spoil it too much, but Ripped to Shreds is the best of them. The other two are not slouches, either. It’s a tight race, but Sanshi is better.

The reason it’s better is RIFFS. Andrew Lee is a guitar monster. Oh, and solos! Listen to that Swe-death HM-2 guitar tone at the beginning of “Into the Court of Yanluowang. There are two quick solos before the track even hits 2 minutes. Then the nice “OUGH” that leads into another great riff. There’s more than one “OUGH” as well in that part, followed by another quick solo. With a couple of minutes left, a grunt leads into a slightly slower section, then to another solo. This one’s much longer and finishes the track.

Every track is a certified banger, but I especially enjoy “Living in Effigy.” After a speedy beginning, the track slows roughly 2 minutes in, which leads into a killer solo. If you’d been paying attention, you would have seen that coming. My favorite part is unsurprisingly an “OUGH” followed by a head-nodding riff.

The next one, “Corpse Betrothal” begins with a riff straight from the early 90s DM playbook. Some deeper vocals start it, then that groovy ass riff around 2 minutes brings back the normal hoarse ones. At slightly over 3 minutes, this is one of the shorter tracks, but packs just as heavy a punch.

One of the later tracks, “Cultivating Towards Ascension” sits around the “tree fitty” mark, which I am quite surprised passed the Grammarly test. I’m sure The Loch Ness Monster is pleased. I’m not sure if the goal was to fit as many guitar solos as possible onto an album, but it begs the question. Yngwie Malmsteen probably set it at like five years old or something.

The final track, “Perverting the Funeral Rites, Stripping for the Dead,” has a sexy and alluring title, but also vivacious riffs, which may not have ever been used in a death metal review before. I like being a trailblazer. Regardless, you know what you’re getting here in a shorter form. A headbanging riff, as well as multiple great solos, fill it.

I’ve already told you how I feel about Sanshi. There’s no shortage of death metal these days, as well as an abundance of great bands. I find it difficult to believe anyone into metal will not thoroughly enjoy this. Beware if you listen because you might not stop headbanging. I hope you’re not embarrassed about looking like the Roxbury Guys for a while.

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