Immortal Flesh - 4 Song Demo
- Released: 2002
- Label: Demo/Independent
- Rating:
It seems anyone with musical equipment can put together a death metal band these days. The amount of bands who are satisfied with simply following the basic formula set by the creators of death metal is overwhelming. When wading through this sea of talentless crap, it’s always a pleasure to find a band with some skill. Brooklyn’s own Immortal Flesh is a sonic release for these weary death metal ears.
I won’t say that Immortal Flesh is completely original and a breath of fresh air to the scene, because if they didn’t have the elements of death metal, they wouldn’t be a death metal band. However, they don’t feel the need to perform blast beats for the duration of a song or just play the same repetitive riff over and over. They fit what I think a death metal band should do: they vary enough so that I can discern between songs, and they create music that makes me bang my head into oblivion. I ask for no more.
The vocals on this demo are sick. I can typically decipher most death metal lyrics, but these are outright unintelligible, in vein of early Cannibal Corpse. The thing that impresses me about the vocals is just how awesome Ralph is at screams and growls. He can hold them for an ungodly amount of time and he sounds like he’s gargling razors. Normal men would have choked and died twice over trying to match the length of one of Ralph’s screams. He definitely gets my respect in that area.
You won’t find much for bass in these demos. The mixing was bad or just everything else drowns it out. If you’re listening to death metal for the bass, though, then you’ve got the wrong genre. Most of the guitarwork reminds me of Morbid Angel – it is at its best when playing the slow, heavy lines that cause a severe case of whiplash. The faster stuff is good too, but I can’t headbang to it so I’m biased towards the slower stuff. The drums are as you’d expect – fast and brutal. Angel’s definitely got mastery over his kit. He hits his snare faster than drunk white trash slaps his back-talking wife, and more times per minute. I respect him most for not relying too heavily on blast beats and keeping his arms flying across his kit while still laying some variation on the bass drum.
Immortal Flesh doesn’t really introduce anything new to the genre but they do possess a great deal of talent which instantly makes them better than many of the bands out there. If you’re big on death metal I recommend you download this demo from the band’s website and give it a listen. At four songs it’s short, but worth your listening time. I look forward to further material from this band.
Link: immortalflesh.com
Farlus | 06/12/2003