Killing it old school
Sweden's Dismember have been hacking their way through the international death metal scene since the late '80s and can easily be considered one of the country's most consistent standard-bearers of grisly, neck-snapping brutality. With their self-titled eighth album, the band continues to prove its capacity for uncompromising and unfailingly ageless death metal that's as memorable as it is murderous.
Possessing a guitar tone reminiscent of a blood-and-guts-encrusted chainsaw, Dismember doesn't squander any time in laying waste to listener's ears with the one-two punch of the aptly-titled "Death Conquers All" and "Europa Burns". The former is a speedy, thrash-influenced number that sounds like it's being played by a d-beat band in hell, while the latter relies on bone-grinding mid-paced grooves to get its point across. Standout third track "Under a Blood Red Sky" starts out as standard death metal fare, but morphs into a Maiden-esque twin-guitar workout by song's end, showing off yet another intriguing facet of Dismember's arsenal. But when they aren't busting out killer NWOBHM-style fret-work, Dismember display a sense of reckless abandon that borders on hardcore punk. In fact, the band's fast 'n' filthy approach to songs like "Hills Have Eyes" or "Combat Fatigue" makes them sound like they wouldn't be too far out of place on a Skit System or Disfear album. Over the course of the record, Dismember continually splits the difference between fury and finesse, as further demonstrated by "Tide of Blood", "To End it All" and "Black Sun."
The production on Dismember is perfectly suited to the music, lending the guitars a crusty mid-range snarl, putting just enough reverb on the drums and making the vocals sound like the psychotic ranting of a power-tool wielding maniac. Dismember have wisely chosen to avoid one of the biggest pitfalls so many bands succumb to--the temptation to clean up their sound. Death metal of such a grotesque, barbarous nature demands a production scheme that will bring out these untamed qualities, and in this hefty task Dismember ultimately excels. The album sounds like it was recorded in the bowels of a blood-soaked slaughterhouse where livestock wasn't the only thing on the chopping block.
Although Dismember is one of Swedish death metal's elder bands, Dismember makes it perfectly clear that the quartet is in no danger whatsoever of running out of gas. The album is bound to please longtime Scandinavian death metal fanatics, but could also make a killer starting point for headbangers who might have missed the hearse the first ten or so times around. Along with fellow stalwarts Entombed and Grave, Dismember continues to make a strong case for the Swedish scene's long-time dominance of the genre.
| Reviewer: Josh Haun Added: March 1st 2008 |
|
