Murder Squad
Ravenous Murderous
6.2
A band comprised of members of Entombed and Dismember, playing old school death metal? But how! Re-released by Candlelight for 2004, Ravenous, Murderous is Murder Squad's second full length album. Chris Reifert (The Ravenous, Death, Abscess, Autopsy) steps in for a few guest spots on the album, contributing vocals, guitarwork, and even receives songwriting credit. I actually bought this album when it originally came out, hoping it'd be a little more entertaining than their first effort, Unsane, Insane, And Mentally Deranged.
It's not. It's about the same, which is more than well if you enjoyed the first album.
Detuned and grimy, there's still a high amount of Autopsy worship on Ravenous, Murderous, even right on down to the raw production. There are tracks I absolutely adore, like the hilarious "Disturbing the Freaks" and the high-energy "Spunkslut". Beginning with a raging rock guitar solo, it's hard to deny comparison in the main riff as well as general tone to mid to later-era Entombed. Generally though, I actually find a lot of the material rather boring. "Army of Maggots" is an extremely lethargic song which doesn't even add to the mood of the album. Although starting out extremely promising, it rapidly slows down to nearly three minutes of tiresome mid-tempo slop. Slop in a good way for a lot of people, bad for others. When the songs pick up, it's never bad - but it's not good enough to make up for the lack of energy throughout the record.
While the album does a great job recreating the sound of the older and more well known death metal acts, it's not the real thing; pretty close, maybe. Regardless, it's the sort of thing that makes me long for the bands of old, instead of pushing me to give Ravenous, Murderous another few spins. The album has its high points as well as low points, but unquestionably, any die hard fan of Entombed, Dismember, or any of Chris Reifert's bands will probably love Murder Squad's classic approach to a classic sound. For everyone else, I'd have to recommend you stick to the originals.
