If you’re into metal, you probably don’t expect to hear anything groundbreaking very often. Sometimes, bands try new things and fall flat. Sometimes it sounds like they just input strange instruments or passages just because they want, not because it serves the song. This happens often in the attempt to be “different.” On the other hand, some bands just show up and play music to kick you in the teeth. Unflesh is the latter.

The intro, which is called “Behold Nightfall,” sets the stage well with some clean guitars before going into a, dare I say, Tribulation-esque section. Then, of course, the first track, “Vast Forest of Impaled Cadavers” gets blasting, and we hear our first taste (how can you hear a “taste”) of Ryan Beevers’ snarl, which is feral and reminds me of Dave Davidson of Revocation, one of my favorite modern death metal bands. In fact, this comparison can be made to many of the offerings on display here, namely the guitar work.  I must admit as a sidenote that the vocal comparison had been driving me insane because I couldn’t figure out of whom he reminds me! Well, now I can sleep at night. Well, once that fucking horse ghost leaves me alone…

Did I say anything about the guitars yet? Oh, yeah there are clean ones which open track 5, “Amongst Horrors I Must Dwell.” This is another 6-minute plus track, damn it… One thing of which you can be sure is that Unflesh do their (his?) best to build an atmosphere in each track. About 2 and a half minutes in, the track goes into a blast section which is very blackened in nature, almost like modern Necrophobic. That’s not a bad thing as it makes this track stand out.

If someone had told me “Sepulchral Depths” was a new Revocation track, I would not have questioned it much. The guitar interplay, the galloping riffs, and the vocals all drink from the same cup. When it comes to the guitars, consider that a compliment. The lead and riff work here is stellar, which has been mentioned before, and hell, I might just mention it again.

On the closing track “Dehumanized Legions,” guess what? Yep. Great guitars, leads, vocals, and all smashed into a nice, compact 9-minute plus package. The leads at about 5 minutes in are just showing off. However, this track, despite its length, is one of the best on the album. There’s solid, foreboding vocal hook that carries the tune along with those galloping guitars all the way to riff city, bruh. Usually I’m against the longest songs being at the end, but this is one of those instances where it just works.

I’ve listened to this album a ton. I was enamored with it at first, but then I have to confess that feeling went away, but only slightly. It’s 8 songs in 46 minutes, so a lot of the tracks are definitely on the longer side. For me, the sweet spot for a death metal album is usually around 40 minutes, and this is slightly above that.  However, on the bright side, this is engaging. Even though it’s a bit long, it’s not egregiously so where it takes away from the overall product. I’ve seen a lot of praise for this album elsewhere, which I definitely get, and in some ways concur, but when I like an album a lot, I will buy the physical copy (if available). However, it should tell you all you need to know that I’m still on the fence about this one.

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments