PULSATING BELLOWS OF WELCOME, GRËASE BËASTS.
Few acts land themselves on such musically iconic grounds as that of Death. This is apparent in spawning a whole sub-genre dedicated to trying to sound like even more of the same band. Where some genres offered up their best under different monikers, “The Big Four” or “Kings of NWOBHM”, none of that is as impactful as simply being worshiped as gods amongst mortal men.
“Death-Worship” is not as the name implies music with death and dying as the soul subject matter, but is actually music made with the direct intention of sounding like Chuck Schuldiner’s band, Death.
Prolific for having beautiful pieces of cover art by the one and only Ed Repka, solo’s that could tear the flesh out of stadium seats, and songwriting well beyond their few sophomore years in the industry, Death is (in the eyes of many metalhead, myself included) the goal. Their sound progressed over time, evolving and growing but never moving away from the key aspects that make a song so easily identifiable “Death”.
That being said, there are definitely bands out there that are trying very hard to give us another glimpse into the perpetual and macabre, and they want to do so by sounding as similar to Death as physically possible. To emphasize this point, look no further than the 2017 release from the self-proclaimed Death-addicts in Gruesome. Following two VERY good albums, this year they gave us a lone original track and many pieces of band history in the form of demos and alike all grouped into a fine little compilation called “Fragments Of Psyche”.
The title track is (if nothing else) a beautiful look into what we can expect as this new iteration of almost-Death continues to morph, grow, and amass power.
Next head on the block today goes to a band who has had a ton of time to be divergent but has done little to alter their sound, (which I regard as not only hard to do, but commendable to say the least when done over time) and that band is Asphyx.
Though not off of their 2016 album “Incoming Death”, this track from the 2012 album “Deathhammer” still manages to carry the spirit of early death metal and all that was the grotesque from it’s forefathers into a new era. Though less melodic than the wellspring it may draw from, Asphyx continues to sound thicker and raw-er than carving a steak off a living cow and eating it then and there. It goes beyond just being “intense” or “impressive” as not only after all these years are they still a successful studio band, but not a handful of days ago they played just a few hours from my home and every word I’ve heard about that event was that they we’re bar-none the show-stealers. Big Up’s to keeping the spirit alive.
Since Bear things always come in three’s, let’s put a third monkey to bed. Though not carrying any type of following almost at all, Morgoth released several definitive albums, overusing the reverb on every throat-wretching shriek just as Chuck would’ve wanted it.
“The Eternal Fall” and it’s chronological successor were eventually put together into a single album which I highly recommend giving a run through. Clean skank beats coat this track from back to front and multiple layers of vocals give much more substantial form to the recording than the basic once-over that so many tracks get given nowadays.
RIP EVIL CHUCK. YOU LIVE ON.
Leave something worthwhile behind.
– Bear.