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The number of bands coming out of Eastern Europe or the former Soviet states and opening up the eyes of the West is still low. The area between Poland and Moscow is simply not known as a hotbed for extreme metal, and odds are such notoriety won't be coming any time soon. But every year brings a greater quantity of excellent coming from these Slavic regions. And from Ukraine comes a brutal death metal band that is liable to put American greats such as Dying Fetus to shame.
Seriously. Fleshgore manages to serve up just over thirty minutes of thick, obscenely violent death metal with plenty of vicious technicality, a bit of hardcore influence and a slight political/religious slant. I haven't heard vocals this guttural since discovering Devourment. And I'd even go so far as to say that Fleshgore's "May God Strike Me Dead" features even more creative guitar play than the last Dying Fetus album I heard, "Destroy the Opposition." And this is only Fleshgore's second album! Alright, it's not exactly a perfect death metal album. But "May God Strike Me Dead" is scarily solid and jaw-dropping for a band that has only been around since late 2000. Launching immediately into hyper-speed blasting and thick guitar shredding, Fleshgore establish themselves within seconds as a brutal death metal band with an emphasis on technical-riffs-yet-catchy rhythms, blitzkrieg percussion, and three levels of vocals: mid-range death, low-end sewer, and... well, let me put it this way. There are times when Fleshgore's vocalist Sid sounds like a large hog squealing as it is forced through a meat grinder. Alive. If you have a craving for extreme metal that pushes the limits of both words, then right now Fleshgore is at the top of the heap. Guitarist Igor is all over the place, presenting indescribably sick guitar riffs, finger-blistering solos, and countless 'odd' riffs near the high end of the guitar that are surprisingly radical and yet perfectly intense. And while drummer Max is not quite at the level of godliness that the Fetus' Kevin Talley is/was, you'll find yourself simply not caring while letting "May God Strike Us Dead" flay the flesh from your skull and kick you in the gut at the same time. Of course, this is the sort of heavy metal that relies almost exclusively on pure brutality in order to justify its existence. If you are looking for catchy songs, experimental songwriting or anything other than pure sonic onslaught, look elsewhere. Fleshgore is not the kind of band that is going to make it anywhere near MTV or mainstream radio. "May God Strike Me Dead" is not the top album of 2006 (or 2005, the year in which it was completed and apparently originally released by Moon Records). If anything, they are almost too beholden to the aforementioned Dying Fetus, and in a battle of the bands John Gallagher's group will inevitably stop at nothing to end up on top. But if all you crave in your live is sick, brutal, heavy-as-hell death metal, I am hard-pressed to think of an album released in the last few years that can top Fleshgore's sophomore release. And right now, that is fine by me. | |
