Cutterred Flesh – Love at First Bite Review

By Kenstrosity

Czech brutal tech hash-slinging slashers Cutterred Flesh ought to hold a seminar on pairing cheeky artwork with equally cheeky album names. Three years ago, the five-banger released the whimsically titled Sharing is Caring and paired it with imagery befitting its title and the brutality it contained. Today, Cutterred Flesh prepare their sixth assault, entitled Love at First Bite, and with it another gruesome but tongue-in-cheek slab of paint. Needless to say, just like before, this combo instantly makes this artwork one of my favorites of the year so far. The question remains, then, whether the album’s content can enamor me the same way as does its cover.

Cutterred Flesh chose not to fix what ain’t broken. Love at First Bite remains a brutal tech death record at its core, continuing right where Sharing is Caring left off. If you aren’t familiar with their work, Cutterred Flesh’s current sound starts with a strong Deeds of Flesh and Suffocation backbone, warped by the crushing bounce and swagger of Abysmal Torment. Using this concoction as a starting point, Cutterred Flesh routinely carve out a distinct approach time after time. In 2021, the Czech troupe accomplished this by using mournful melodies to create moments of unlikely beauty that belied their gory grit. Love at First Bite makes a lateral move from that space into environs more atmospheric, eerie, and oddly uplifting. Subtle and restrained use of bright (perhaps even major key in one spot) tremolos and airy atmospheric black metal lines trace fine streaks of drama and grandeur to songs which otherwise fit standard brutal death and tech molds (“Repeated Intersexual Misunderstanding,” “The Last Supper”). Armed with these gentle touches, Love at First Bite creates an intriguing brutal death experience that might grab a wider audience than your standard fare.

Even if I focus solely on the sections of Love at First Bite that fall solely under the typical brutal tech architecture, a fair portion of Cutterred Flesh’s material feels more engaging than the norm. Examples such as “Xenomorphic Annihilation—Earth Ravaged,” “Human Protein Concentrate,”1 and “Descent into Torment of Abyssal Whispers” do absolutely nothing new or novel. Nonetheless, they stand out as quality pieces in the medium thanks to extremely hooky riffs and mighty grooves. Late album cuts like “The Last Supper” succeed as well in part because Cutterred Flesh apply fresher techniques to the standard blueprint for slammy brutality, making its main themes extra memorable and impactful. That said, there’s still no ignoring the fact that these otherwise strong numbers lack enough novelty to elevate them as much as Cutterred Flesh certainly could have.

On the flipside, Love at First Bite’s more explorative tunes—such as the deceptively interesting “Repeated Intersexual Misunderstanding” and the rip-roaring triumph that is “Amanda”—make a strong case for the direction Cutterred Flesh ventured. By integrating atmospheric black metal twists and more uplifting melodies into their gruesome gruel, an unlikely synergy ascends. The spine-tingling final third of “Repeated Intersexual Misunderstanding” transforms what would otherwise be a bog standard brutal beatdown into a minor epiphany, its major harmonies striking a rare nerve that this genre never sets out to interact with in the first place. Meanwhile, “Amanda” draws from the cosmic well from which Mare Cognitum‘s epic majesty springs and reformulates it to fit a more violent, explosively energetic mission. Other tracks accomplish similar transmutations to a lesser extent, of course (see “Descent into Torment of Abyssal Whispers” and “The Last Supper”), but none are as successful as the aforementioned. Unfortunately, as Cutterred Flesh massage and flex newly acquired songwriting muscles, they tend to leave their brutal tech core somewhat atrophied in spots, weakening critical moments that required meteoric impact in order for this pairing of aesthetics to work best (“Code of Zuurith,” “Sarkam’s Wrath Unleashed”).

Consequently, Love at First Bite represents a record of several great moments amidst rock-solid material, but only a few wholly great songs. If listening with a non-critical eye, Cutterred Flesh’s latest offering possesses ample goodies to sate anyone’s bloodlust. I, however, want to see Cutterred Flesh push harder going forward. I believe they have something truly unique and unusual to offer the brutal tech-death scene, and at this point all I want is for this Czech cohort to really let me have it!

Rating: Good.
DR: 4 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Transcending Obscurity Records
Websites: facebook.com/CutterredFlesh | cutterredfleshband.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: May 24th, 2024

#2024 #30 #AbysmalTorment #BrutalDeathMetal #CutterredFlesh #CzechMetal #DeathMetal #DeedsOfFlesh #LoveAtFirstBite #MareCognitum #May24 #Review #Reviews #Suffocation #TechnicalDeathMetal #TranscendingObscurityRecords

Master – Saints Dispelled Review

By Kenstrosity

Five years and a little over one month ago, Master’s fourteenth full-length Vindictive Miscreant fell into my lap, courtesy of one Master of Muppets. Thanks to this serendipitous windfall, I get dibs on all Master records going forward, despite their classic pedigree and extensive back catalog which predates my own existence on planet Earth by almost ten years. What should belong to one of our olde curmudgeons, like Steel or even Dr. A.N. Grier, belongs to me.1 Today, Saints Dispelled grants me another opportunity to swing my big dibs-stick and acquire Master’s newest slab of fun, wretched, thrashy death metal madness.

Saints Dispelled is business as usual for the formerly Illinois-based, now Czechia-based death-thrash trio. Alex “93” Nejezchleba’s vicious riffs abound as sole remaining founding member Paul Speckmann vomits all over the place with his distinctive and remarkably well-maintained retches. Master’s riffs have always straddled the fence between serrated death metal and fiery thrash metal, but something about Saints Dispelled’s constructs feel more youthful, invigorated, and bloodthirsty than their other recent efforts. Perhaps new drummer Peter Bajci breathed this freshness into the band’s compositions, as his performance across the board is nothing short of staggering. Blistering beats of all kinds enmesh with Alex’s riffs so naturally that it truly feels like they’ve been playing together for ages, and Paul’s charismatic bass and vocal performance compliments that chemistry extremely well. Indeed, this latest iteration of Master plays death thrash with more vim and vigor than many newer, younger bands, and Saints Dispelled is the proof.

Enlivening their trademark style, Master’s songwriting on Saints Dispelled marks a notable upgrade over recent works. Partly due to tightened runtimes and partly due to sheer unrestrained energy, Saints Dispelled rips through thirty-eight minutes (fifty-one including the two CD bonus tracks) so ravenously that I find myself foaming at the mouth for another spin. Major hits like “Destruction in June,” “Saints Dispelled,” and “Minds Under Pressure” launch the first half in a blaze of death-thrash glory, chock full of exciting riffs, sharp shreds, and punchy percussion that are guaranteed to open only the most destructive of pits. While not quite as vital as the front half, Saints Dispelled’s back end still houses several potent offerings, namely “Find Your Life,” “Wizard of Evil,” and first bonus track “Nomads.” While on average lengthier than earlier cuts, these latecomers maintain a high degree of momentum thanks to muscular, rippling riffs, engaging tempo shifts, and smart transitions.

An unfortunate consequence of jamming the longest songs into the record’s second half, Master exposes a weakness when exploring the long form. Second bonus track “Alienation of Insanity” is egregious at over eight minutes. While not an outright bad song by any means, it lacks the quality and quantity of ideas necessary to make a high-energy, thrash-based entry of that scale land. A similar problem arises in Saints Dispelled’s longer songs proper, such as “The Wiseman.” In possession of a few legitimately great moments (like the eerie, soft opening sequence, memorable main riff, and killer bass solos), “The Wiseman” offers insufficient compelling material otherwise to support almost six minutes. While not especially lengthy at four-and-a-half minutes, “Marred and Disease” struggles to get off the ground as well, only hitting its stride in the final third of its span. Consequently, the song feels twice as long and half as strong as it should.

Master might have been able to get away with the more expansive runtimes and protracted buildups if those selections challenged the foundation of the genre. But that’s just not what Master does. They play tried and true, old school death thrash, respected and revered. Therefore, when it lacks oomph, it’s hard not to notice. Thankfully, Saints Dispelled harbors but a scant few such stumbles. The majority of the record whips banger after banger straight to your countenance, and there’s no dodging them. They hit hard, they strike fast, and they leave you bloody and broken. That’s what Master is all about. If you’re looking to have a rollicking good time, not a long time,2 look no further than Saints Dispelled.

Rating: Very Good.
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hammerheart Records
Websites: master.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/TheRealMasterofficial
Releases Worldwide: January 19th, 2024

#2024 #35 #AmericanMetal #CzechMetal #DeathMetal #HammerheartRecords #Jan24 #Master #Review #Reviews #SaintsDispelled #ThrashMetal